S I N H E A R T
by marmaroth
Summary: What usually happens to a girl when she dies? She goes to heaven. Me? I float around as a ghost for a few months and get reborn in another world entirely. As the twin sister of a squinty-eyed, human version of Gluttony, no less! ...I'm screwed. OC, manga
1. Prologue: Requiem

**_We begin this part of the story with an end, and end it with a beginning._**

**_---_**

"Leena, dinner's ready."

"I'm not hungry." The blankets muffled the sound of her voice.

Silence. "Leena, please. You have to eat something."

"I said I'm not hungry." When the girl didn't hear her leave, she added, "I'll eat later."

More silence. "Leena..."

"What?"

"Please, Leena. You're not sick. You're just...in shock. I'm sure you'll feel better after you have something in your stomach."

"I'll puke if I eat anything right now," was her retort. Her mother was quiet for a few moments, then sighed.

"Leena, I know it's painful, but it's already been a week. I won't make you attend school, but you could at least keep your body--"

She gritted her teeth and pushed her pillow harder around her ears. "Go away."

Silence again. "Leena, you have to accept this--"

"_There's nothing to accept_." Her voice was filled with pure venom, and her mother faltered. Leena didn't usually speak to her in this tone of voice.

Things change.

Usually for the worse.

"...Leena." Her voice was harder now. She'd been lenient with her daughter for the past week, but apparently that lenience was gone now. "Leena, you have to understand. Your friend--"

_Shut up._

"--I'm sure you're still in pain, but--"

_Shut up._

"--you have to understand--"

_Shut up._

"--starving yourself--"

_Shut up._

**"--isn't going to bring her back."**

Complete silence filled the room. This time she didn't try to break it. She had danced around this subject for weeks, knowing that it was a delicate matter for her daughter. Now she stabbed it in the heart, a knife with a poisoned tip in her hand.

"She's gone, Leena."

_Shut up._

"I know you're in pain. I know you're sad. I know--"

_Shut up._

"--how much you're hurting right now. But please, Leena..."

_"Shut up."_

The words forced their way out of Leena's mouth, and she said them almost involuntarily. Almost.

"Shut up," she said again. It felt almost good to say them out loud, after holding them inside her for such a long time. She lifted her head from my pillow and glared at her mother, anger and pain bubbling up like lava in a volcano. "Shut up. You have _no idea_. You don't know anything! So just shut up! _Shut up and get the hell out!_"

Her mother fell silent after this outburst. But after a while, she spoke again. This time, her voice trembled from the tension of her barely-controlled anger and frustration. "Alright. But I hope you know that what you're doing isn't helping yourself or anyone else."

Then she left. She closed the door behind her, and Leena let her head fall back into her pillow again. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her sheets around her, feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes.

_"Starving yourself won't bring her back."_

_"She's gone, Leena."_

_"You have to understand."_

_"She's gone."_

_"Gone."_

_**"Gone."**_

Leena gritted her teeth again, clenching her fist so hard her nails dug into her palms. This time the tears spilled over and soaked her pillow.

_I know, damn it..._

_**I know.**_

* * *

_She was my friend. A girl I'd met in Chinese school, actually. She'd been in a level higher than me, but we were the same age and, in regular school terms, the same grade, sixth. Our personalities were different, but we had been drawn together by two things: mutual friendship with another girl also in our school, and a love for anime._

Naruto_ was our first fanbase. Then _Bleach_. Then I'd introduced her to_ Fullmetal Alchemist_. We were obsessed, I a little more so than she. We watched the episodes, read the manga, read and wrote fanfiction, drooled at and drew fanart. Upon entering junior high we were placed in the same history class; we drove the teacher insane._

_Then came eighth grade. We'd had two classes together, English and math._

_We rubbed off on each other, or at least I liked to think so. She picked up some of my hyperactivity. I drew some of her cynicism. She became a person who grinned often and laughed much. I gained some of her sick thinking and pervertedness. (So not all of that influence was good.)_

_And then..._

_I wasn't there. How could I have been? We walked in two entirely different directions to get home after school. But if I had been there...if I had..._

_A friend of ours who had been at the scene said she had walked forward quickly, and the driver of the car had been too eager to move. That had made me almost want to laugh. If it were her, I had always secretly harbored the thought that she would die in some spectacular way if not in her sleep--saving someone else, in a bomb explosion. Something. I'd never imagined that she could die in something like a car accident._

_An _**accident**_. A stupid, stupid...._

_An accident! Because of a mistake someone made! An accident meant that something wasn't meant to happen. It meant that somebody somewhere had goofed up, big time, and someone else had to pay the cost._

**It wasn't fucking fair.**

_She shouldn't have died. She had never done anything wrong, never done anything to warrant a death sentence._

"God, can you hear me?"

_She'd been my friend._

"A...a couple days ago...a friend of mine died."

_I often found myself wishing that this were Amestris, that alchemy existed, so I could find a way to bring her back to life. But the impossible was impossible._

"If you're up there...if she's there..."

_I'd been to her funeral. Even though watching them lower her body into the ground was like being stabbed, I would never have missed it._

"...make sure she gets to heaven, okay? Because she deserves at least that much."

_What kind of friend would I have been if I did?_

_What kind of friend..._

_What kind of..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

"...Leena, are you okay?"

_..._

"Leena?"

_..._

"Leena, please answer me."

_..._

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine."

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

Life goes on...

**_

* * *

_**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_I can hear it._**

**_..._**

**_The silence._**

**_..._**

**_Darkness, nothingness..._**

**_..._**

**_It's smothering me._**

**_..._**

**_Where is everyone?_**

**_..._**

**_...I feel cold._**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_

* * *

_**

I woke up with a start.

How long had it been since I had last fallen asleep? Three months. Three whole months since I'd experienced the old feeling of weariness, that one moment of exhaustion before dropping off into black unconsciousness. I had never _needed_ sleep for those three whole months. Ghosts didn't need sleep, and for three months after my death, I had been a ghost.

So why the sudden change?

With a shock, I realized something else: I was _warm._

Here's another fact about ghosts: they don't feel. Oh, sure, they can feel emotion. They can get upset or sad or happy or embarrassed. But they're insubstantial, and therefore can't feel anything. They don't feel pain. They don't feel warmth. If that's confusing, think of it this way: all ghosts are like Alphonse Elric, stuck in a suit of armor where they can and can't feel at the same time.

Not feeling wasn't exactly an uncomfortable feeling, but it took some getting used to. We're so used to feeling things that, eventually, we start unconsciously beginning to _expect_ to feel things when we come in contact with the world around us. If you stepped into a volcano, you would have to fight all your instinct not to run and get the hell out of there before you were cooked like a fried chicken.

If a ghost stepped into a volcano, hell, they would _still_ have to fight their instinct not to run and get the hell out of there before they were cooked like fried chicken. But there was a major difference: the ghost _wouldn't_ get cooked like a fried chicken.

Warmth after three whole months of nothing was a beautiful feeling, and for a moment I just lay there in darkness, enjoying my little bubble of happiness.

I enjoyed it for all of ten seconds before I realized I wasn't just feeling warm: I was also feeling sticky, and extremely cramped. That was a feeling I didn't welcome. I had no clue how I had gotten so disgustingly gluey, and as my twisted mind began to come up with various perverted reasons, I decided I really didn't want to know. And as for being cramped, as long as I didn't move around, it was fine.

It was completely quiet in my (rather small) happy bubble, refreshing after hanging around my former hometown for so long, where silence was basically nonexistent. Well, it was almost completely quiet. I frowned, concentrating. There was a small, almost unnoticeable sound...a sort of barely detectable drumming. Thump. Thump. Thump.

It pounded at a steady rhythm. I could almost feel it inside me: thump. Thump. Thump.

I wondered vaguely what it was. If someone was pounding on me, it certainly didn't hurt.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Then it registered. Slowly. The thumping _was_ coming from inside me, and there was only one thing it could be:

_...a **heartbeat.**_

...

It was impossible. Completely impossible. I was _dead_. I was dead as a doornail, dead as that girl who died in a car crash a few months ago--whoops, that was me! I was dead, dead, dead, dead, _dead._ I had _been_ dead for three whole freaking months, now all of a sudden I had a freaking _pulse?_

And to have a pulse, didn't I need...well, a _body?_

And having a body...didn't that mean I wasn't a ghost anymore?

That I was--

I cut off that thought before it could take root, afraid to let myself go in that direction--hope. It hurt too much, like being blind in darkness for too long, and then suddenly finding yourself out in the light.

But it was too late. My new-found pulse was already hammering away, pounding in a sign of excitement and anxiety. That proved it: it was my heart.

Trembling, I moved a hand and held it out in front of me. It came in contact with something almost immediately, inches away from my face, and I flinched.

I was touching something.

I was freaking _touching_ something.

At the moment, I was too excited to realize how wrong that statement sounded. I was alive. I was freaking _alive!_ I wasn't a ghost anymore, I wasn't dead anymore! I bit back the sudden urge to cry, although I welcomed that, too. You couldn't cry as a ghost, either. Another sign of life. Which I _had. _I had _life._

_..._

_...so, if I'm alive..._

_...where the hell am I?_

That thought stopped my ecstasy short. Where could I possibly be?

There was one logical place, and that would be my body before I died, which was obviously buried underground. That would explain the darkness and the enclosed space. But...

I felt a sudden rush of panic. If I was underground, in a coffin somewhere, didn't that mean my air supply was limited? I could suffocate down here! There was no telling how deep they'd dug my grave, it could take me forever to get out! Especially since I'd spent three months as a ghost and was no longer used to physical labor!

Great, so I had come back to life only to die a second time? I felt all my hope drain away, and in frustration, I kicked out. Hard.

"Oh..."

I froze.

"Princess, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It was one of the children kicking, that's all."

There were people out there?! I kicked again.

"My, it seems like they're feeling lively today."

"The physician said you would give birth soon, Princess. Perhaps this is a good sign."

"Yes..."

Their voices, speaking animatedly in Mandarin Chinese, were faint, but definitely there. _Help!_ I wanted to cry out, but my mouth remained frustratingly closed. I kicked a third time.

"They seem anxious to come out."

"Of course, Princess. They know they're important members of our clan."

"You're certain I'm to have twins?"

"The physician and the astrologers confirmed it, Princess."

For the first time, I began paying attention to what they were saying. The first woman was apparently going to have kids, and the second woman...**_wait a second._**

I felt all of my blood drain out of my face at my new relevation. Every time I kicked, they said something about the baby being lively and wanting to come out. I was in a dark enclosed space, cramped, warm, and sticky and wet. And, I realized for the first time, naked.

...

...

...

...

_HOLY FUCKING CRAP._

I kicked for the fourth time, the hardest I'd kicked so far, and the first woman ("Princess") gasped. "Ah..."

_YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING._

_YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING._

_YOU'VE GOT TO BE...oh my Lord. **THEY'RE NOT JOKING.**_

I hadn't been brought back to life. I had been _reborn._

And, from the sound of it, I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

"Princess, are you sure you're fine? Perhaps you should ask the physician for some herbs..."

"No, no, I'm fine. It would be harmful to the children." Small pause. "It's a sign that they're growing strong. One of them will be the future emperor of Xing, after all."

"Of course, Princess. The entire Yao clan will rejoice when they are born..."

It took me about five seconds to realize what their new dialogue meant.

a) I was a twin.

b) I was an heir to the Yao clan of Xing.

c) ...and unless there was another Yao clan in another empire called Xing somewhere in one of the universes...

**_I WAS IN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST._**

...

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_...oh my fucking God, I am so screwed._

_

* * *

_

**_To anyone who was confused:_**

**_All dialogue in this story was spoken in Mandarin Chinese, because both Leena (who is of course the authoress herself) and the girl who died are Mandarin Chinese. Also, the authoress is taking for granted that Xing is the Fullmetal Alchemist equivalent of China. If you don't know where she's coming from, let's just say the authoress was able to read the Xingese writing in page 128 of volume 14. Asian pride._**

**_If you have any other questions about the weirdness of this chapter, ask. The authoress will do her best to answer._**


	2. Chapter 1: Twilight Masquerade

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter One _

_Twilight Masquerade_

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_

I won't disgust you with the details of my birth, especially since I don't want to have to relive those awful, horrifying moments. Seriously, I think I blacked out at one point. Unfortunately for me, I woke up soon after.

My twin started crying as soon as they got his breathing going. (Yes, a boy. Thank god we were apparently fraternal twins, not identical.) Me? I just lay there, thoroughly traumatized by my experience and wishing that humans could be hatched out of eggs.

We were held in a pair of arms. The sensation I felt in the back of my mind was dimly warm and comforting: the innocent feelings of a child just born into the world, ignorant of all things, yet comforted by its mother's touch and trusting her without a doubt.

"Will you name them now, Princess?"

The voice was high-pitched and annoying. My twin let out a cry between a shriek and a sob--and he can scream loud--and was comforted by hastily murmured words, a gentle hand stroking his head.

"Yes, of course."

"They are twins, so..."

"Have you already decided on something, Princess?"

"...yes."

"Really? May we hear them, Princess?!"

There was silence for several seconds, and then our "mother's" face loomed above us. She was a pretty woman, with dark eyes and black hair that framed her pale face, but her exhaustion showed. "Her name will be Ming. 'Bright,' just like a daughter of the Yao clan should be."

The mention of the Yao clan caught my attention again for a few seconds before I lapsed back into the half-asleep state I had been in. _Yao Ming, huh....God must have a twisted sense of humor_, I thought drowsily. **(1)**

"And my boy..." Her soft gaze shifted to watch my twin. "He will be Ling. The future of our clan depend on them both, and Ling will be a great emperor. I know he will."

I jolted awake.

* * *

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_...Time passed..._

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* * *

**: t h r e e . y e a r s . l a t e r :**

"Give that back, Ling!" I yanked the book out of my brother's hold as he flipped through it. He frowned.

"Why won't you play with me? You're always reading it, and it's fulla hard words."

"That's why I'm always reading it," I muttered. Then I sighed. "Look, if you let me read now and don't tell Mother about it, I'll play with you later, okay?"

He echoed my sigh. "Okay, okay."

It was hard to believe it had been three years already. Three years since my new life had begun, three years spent as the sixteenth princess of the Yao clan.

I had melted into this new life with surprising ease, but I still hadn't started thinking of the Princess of my "mother" and the members of the Yao clan as family. I was distant from them. They were kind enough, but our minds were too far apart. My name here was Ming, but inside I was still the thirteen-year-old me. The one who was obsessed with science and anime, the one who had gone as far as to start stealing books from various members of her clan as soon as her motor functions were proficient enough.

I returned to my book, a thick, heavy volume on Rentanjutsu. I didn't fully understand it yet, and not just because my Chinese (Xingese in this case) wasn't that good. The basic theory was easy enough to get down, but there were many complex ideas in there, too. But in my opinion, I was doing pretty well.

If only my annoying brother didn't have to keep interrupting me every five seconds...

"Ming."

Silence.

"Ming."

Silence.

"Ming-miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing."

I twitched. "What?"

"I'm bored."

"Go get Huilang." Huilang was one of the maids who took care of us.

"But she's always--"

Suddenly, footsteps came from down the hall, sounding closer and closer to our room. I hurriedly slammed the book shut and shoved it under our bed, just before Huilang poked her head in. Her face was sweaty, pale and sober as we both turned to stare at her; she was panting as if she'd been running.

"Huilang, what's wrong?"

She gave us a shaky smile. "Nothing...nothing really. Your mother wishes to see you, that's all."

I stood up with Ling and followed Huilang down the corridors to our mother's room, although inside I raised an eyebrow. What was the big deal with our mother wanting to see us? She was our mother, after all, and she'd done it plenty of times before. Moreover, didn't she usually come to us?

Huilang stopped. "Go on in," she told us. Then she tried to look reassuring and failed miserably. "Don't worry, she just wants to talk to you."

Ling tugged on my sleeve. "What d'you think's going on?" he asked in a whisper. I shrugged. Who knew?

We walked in nervously. The room was filled with the distinctive smell of incense and made me cough. A single servant, a woman who I knew by face but not by name, stood by our mother's curtained bed. She bowed to us and said, quietly but loud enough for our mother to hear, "Princess, your children are here."

The voice came even more quietly from the bed. "Come closer, Ling, Ming."

We did so obediently.

"You can leave now."

The woman, knowing this was directed to her, bowed to the bed once and left.

The next few moments were filled with silence, which Ling broke.

"Why did you call us, Mother?"

There was weak laughter from the bed. "Oh, Ling...you will not survive long in court if you speak so boldly!"

Ling crossed his arms and frowned. "Then I don't wanna go to court! I want to stay here with you and Ming."

"Ming will be going with you, dear. Isn't that right, Ming?"

I snorted inwardly. As if! I'd run away from home first. Politics was something I had no interest in, and besides, what with all the clans fighting over power, the entire court was a snakepit. "Yes, Mother."

"Good girl." She was quiet again for a minute, as if comtemplating something. Then she said something unexpected. "If I leave, promise you will take care of yourselves."

We looked at each other, startled. Again, Ling was the first one to speak, sounding panicked. "What do you mean, Mother?! You're not going away, are you?!"

More silence. Then, a quiet chuckle. To me it sounded forced. "No, dear, of course not. This is just a precaution, something to make me feel better."

She was lying. I could hear it in her voice. Her lie would have convinced any innocent three-year-old, but not me...

_Something is wrong here..._

"Both of you, promise your mother."

Ling still looked bemused, but no longer questioning. "Okay, Mother."

"That's a good boy. Ming?"

I shrugged. "Yes, Mother." Might as well. And anyway, Ling was going to need all the taking care of he could get. It wasn't like this was going to change anything.

She sounded relieved. "Good." More silence. "Children...."

More silence.

"...nothing. You can leave now, if you wish."

I think she would have liked it if we sat down and kept her company longer, but I dragged Ling outside. The smell of incense was making me sick; I couldn't take it for much longer.

Huilang met us at the door and led us back to our room, still looking sober.

He stayed quiet as we walked back, but as soon as Huilang left:

"Why do you think Mother made us promise that?"

"I dunno," I said, truthfully--my suspicions were still unconfirmed for the time being. I changed the subject. "Do you want to be emperor?"

"No, it'd be boring," he said bluntly. I blinked, surprised. What happened to the ambitious "I'm-the-only-one-who-can-protect-my-country" Yao Ling I'd read about? I decided to push him.

"Mother would be happy."

"No."

"You'd get lots to eat."

He seemed to struggle with himself for a few moments before finally answering. "No. I don't want to!"

"You could do whatever you wanted and no one'd care." Well, that was only partially true. I was sure that even the emperor had consequences if he went too far.

"...really?"

I gave an over-dramatic sigh. "Well, it's not like you could become emperor anyway."

Ling sprang up. "Yes I can!"

"Oh, really?"

"Of course!"

"Really really?"

"Definitely!"

"I don't think you can."

"I can, I can, I CAN!"

"You're just saying that."

"No way!! I'm definitely gonna be the emperor!!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!! Bet on it!!"

I laughed.

---

A week later, Huilang came in to talk to us again, her face full of sorrow.

Our mother had passed away.

* * *

The funeral was a large and solemn affair. Everyone from our clan attended. Many cried. Ling, next to me, stood in silence, uncomfortable in the heat and not really understanding what was going on.

"Where's Mother?" he had asked me just a moment ago. "Why isn't she here?"

Oh, great. How was I supposed to explain something like this to a four-year-old? "She's...uh...away?"

"Away where?"

"...she went on a trip."

"When will she be back?"

"...I don't know?"

This answer seemed to satisfy him, and he stopped asking questions.

If he had known, he would have cried. No doubt about it. Me? All I could do was stare straight ahead as my emotions waged war inside me.

On one hand, she had been my mother. Sort of. From a scientific viewpoint. She'd had sex with that bastard of an emperor, his sperm had fertilized her egg, and boom, I'd been born. In a way. She had given me this body, anyway.

On the other hand, I had barely known her. I had made no attempt to know her, and she'd always been busy, being the princess of the clan. The sorrow I felt now was probably the sorrow I would feel for anyone else if they'd died.

That's when I realized why it had been so easy for me to fit in here, despite my "real world" mind. I had been a spectator watching a play. I would act along occasionally, but in the end, I had always been apart, aloof. Looking back, I wondered just how far apart I'd been...had anyone noticed? If they had, what did they think?

_Real world..._

...

Something clicked inside me.

...

**_There is no going back to your old life._**

**_In that precious "real world" of yours, you are dead, gone, nonexistent._**

**_If you went back, what would you have left? What would you be?_**

**_A ghost again? Or perhaps you would move on to what they call the "afterlife"...?_**

**_Face it, you are no longer ------. You are a resident of this world now._**

**_You are Ming._**

**This_ is your "real world."_**

....

...

"Ah...Ming...Ming..."

"Eh...?"

Ling touched my cheek, his face contorted in a worried expression. "Ming...why are you crying?"

"What...?" I blinked and another tear slid down my cheek.

"Ming, is something wrong? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"...it's nothing, Ling. Don't worry about it."

He frowned. "Ming...are you sad?"

Ah, geez. How am I supposed to answer a question like that, you idiot?

"I..." I sighed. Might as well come honest. "I guess I am..."

Then the little idiot did something that completely shocked me: he threw his arms around me.

"Ming, don't be sad!" he said, sounding surprisingly frantic. "Don't worry! I'm gonna be emperor one day, and then you won't have to be sad anymore!"

My eyes went to the size of dinner plates as his hug tightened. Then I laughed, more tears pouring out of my eyes, as I remembered about him becoming Greed. "You idiot...don't make stupid promises like that..."

_**Don't make promises you won't be able to keep...**_

_"Poor children..."_

_"They must be crying for their mother..."

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**The author apologizes for having taken so long to update. She begs your forgiveness and asks you not to kill her, because she wants to be able to make it up to you by updating sooner later on.  
**

**The dialogue in this chapter still take place in Chinese, as in the previous chapter.  
**


	3. Chapter 2: Broken Rhapsody

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Two_

_Broken Rhapsody_

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_Okay, I'll admit it: I loved the little idiot._

_...ew. Not like that you perverts! I'm not into incest, alright?!!_

_But after Mother's funeral, I realized, suddenly, that this was my brother. Not just that he was related to me by blood and DNA because of this new body of mine. But because this was Ling Yao, and not just the Ling Yao that freeloaded from people and was destined to fall in love with Ranfan and be Greed and fight with Edward Elric (both on his side and against him) and all that._

_No. It was because this was the Ling that I was forced to watch 24/7 for fear that he might choke on something he wasn't supposed to eat but would eat anyway, and yell at when he was doing something that would put him in mortal danger since I would kill him for it, and was annoyed by every five seconds because he just wouldn't leave me alone..._

_...and tell stories to when he couldn't fall asleep, and comfort when he had a nightmare and came to me, crying, and expected me to help make things better because in his mind I was Ming and therefore I always made things better..._

_I guess I was never his twin. No. I was always his older sister. Always, eternally, the one taking care of him. Even before our mother died, always. And then, when Mother did die, he clung to me even tighter, and my role morphed from older sister to older-sister-slash-mother. And--no matter how disgustingly sappy this is going to sound--I loved him. He was annoying, gluttonous, and sometimes stupid, and he was my little brother._

_The intensity of this feeling scared me. Back home--no, in my first life, I had never had very strong emotions. I had always felt I should care, but I didn't. And now I was terrified that I cared too much. When he came crying to me because one of the other children had teased him about his eyes, I wanted to beat them to a bloody pulp. When I looked at him and remembered Greed, I wanted to strangle every single one of the homunculi, including "Father," one by one._

_I wanted to protect him from all of that. I wanted to protect him from all that pain._

_Unfortunately, it was not to be._

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**_Two years later..._**

"MING-MIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!! 3"

I let out a strangled gasp as my book was knocked out of my hands. Ling rubbed his cheek against mine. My eye twitched.

"Ling..."

"Yes~beloved sister~3?"

"If you weren't related to me by blood I would have called the guards by now. GET OFF ME."

He ignored me and focused on my book. "What're you reading, Ming-Ming?"

"A book. Now get off me."

"Will you come play hide-n-seek wi' me and Ranfan?"

I sighed. Why me? "Give me five minutes."

"Now!"

My eye twitched again. "Okay, okay! Now get off me already!"

He obeyed, a wide grin practically splitting his face in half. I picked up my book on martial arts, dusted off its cover, and did the familiar routine of shoving it under the bed before following Ling outside.

Our compound was huge. I guess it had to be, to house thirty-odd clan members (thirty out of five hundred thousand, hahaha) and their respective servants. Ling and I (being "imperialty") were stuck relatively far away from everyone else except for our own servants and, of course, Ranfan and Fu. Half a year after Mother died we were introduced to our new bodyguards, probably because we turned four on the same day. For Ling, it meant a new friend to play with, yay!

For me, it signaled: "Congratulations, you are now in mortal danger."

Nice birthday present, huh?

Okay, I won't deny that I liked Ranfan. It was just impossible NOT to like her, especially when you saw how she blushed whenever Ling grabbed her hand and dragged her away to play. Like he was doing just now.

"Ming-Ming, you're it!" he declared loudly before sprinting away. I saw Ranfan follow him for a few steps, hesitate, and run off in the opposite direction. I sighed, exasperated.

"Oh, for the love of...why me?"

There was no help for it. I closed my eyes and started counting. "One...two...three...four..."

Of course, being a thirteen-year-old in a five-year-old body did come in handy. For one thing, I had a trick up my sleeve neither Ranfan nor Ling knew about, although I suspected that Fu had guessed.

"...five...six..."

Remember in the manga, how Ling, Ranfan, Fu, and Mei could tell homunculi apart from human beings through something like "sensing"? The method was a basic one mentioned in practically all the Xingese martial arts texts I had read. If it were fine-tuned and honed by the user, it would be no longer a matter of telling humans apart from non-humans, but certain humans apart from humans. Everyone's...how do you say it?

"...seven...eight..."

..."life energy," I guess. Almost "chi." Or "chakra" if you wanted to go Naruto. Anyway, everyone's was different, and if you could learn to detect those subtle differences--

"...nine..."

There was Ling, apparently trying to hide himself behind a tree not too far off. In the other direction was Ranfa, sitting in some bushes.

"...ten...eleven...twe--" I stopped abruptly.

_An unfamiliar presence?_

_I should know all the servants well enough by now._

_Unless..._

_...the presence, it's heading toward Ling--_

I ran.

Ling blinked as I grabbed his arm. "Ming-Ming?"

"Listen to me," I hissed under my breath, pulling him close so he could hear me. "Get back to the compound as fast as you can and find Fu, got it? Don't stop no matter what. If you see Ranfan, call her too."

"Wha--why--"

"_Go_!" I shoved him away. He cast a frightened glance at me and was off as fast as his legs could carry him. I stood there for a second, watching him, my heart pounding in my ears. Then I took a deep breath.

"I know you're watching me," I snapped. "Show yourself! Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

Silence. Then, a low chuckle. "Pretty bold for a kid, ain't you?"

There was a black blur and a figure dropped down from the nearby wall where they had been hidden by the foliage. Their face was covered, but from the slightly bulky body I assumed they were male. I cursed under my breath. Assassination attempts were relatively common when you were "imperialty," apparently, but this was a really bad time. We were on the outskirts of the compound, there were no servants that I could see or feel...the only thing I knew for sure was that LIng was probably safe by now. Hopefully Fu had realized what was going on and would get here before anything bad happened.

"Sorry, kid," the man said, a sneer in his voice. He stepped forward. "Boss's orders. We need you for our plans, so come quietly and we won't hurt you."

If I ran, there was a fair chance he would catch me--he was a lot bigger than me and had longer legs, after all. But what was I supposed to do? Fight back?

_...I'm not going to get kidnapped like a stupid damsel in distress, dammit!_

So I rushed him.

I caught him by surprise and managed to punch him in the face before he grabbed me and threw me to the ground. "I said come quietly!" he snapped.

"Like hell I'm going to do that!" I snarled before slamming my foot in his face and pushing him away from me. I rolled away, grimacing when I realized there was blood on my shoe. My attacker cursed loudly.

"You litte...!" His cloth mask began to stain red as his nose dripped blood. Wild anger shone in his eyes and he pulled out a knife. "I don't care what the boss says, I'm gonna kill..." Then his eyes widened as he noticed something behind me. I turned. _What--_

Something slammed into my neck and my knees buckled. Darkness clouded my vision.

I fell.

_Shit...there was more than one..._

_Ling...be safe...!!!_

_

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_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_...where...am I?_

_..._

_...my head hurts like hell..._

_...what...voices...?_

"Dammit, I still don't need to see why we gotta drag 'er all the way out here..."

"Shut up, they're the boss's orders! We need the Yao brat here so he can uh...he can..."

"Why don't we just leave her in the desert?"

"Cuz she'll die, stupid!"

_...Yao? Are they talking about..._

_...me?_

An influx of memories rushed into my head and my eyes snapped open. Or at least I thought they did. If my eyes were open, why the hell was it still dark? Stuffy, too. I barely had any room to breathe.

...

What the hell. Did these idiots stuff me in a _sack?_

My eye twitched. It was practically ninety degrees in here! They didn't want me to die? I was practically suffocating! When I got out, I was going to **_castrate_** those retards! ...assuming they were men, of course.

"Let's put 'er down."

"Finally!"

A dull shock went through me as I was dropped onto the ground. I grimaced and tried to resist the urge to cuss them out.

A pause.

"Should we open the bag?"

"Why, idiot? You want 'er running off?!"

"Well, what if she don't get enough air? Like...like if she...uh..."

"Suffocates?"

"Yeah that's it."

I stifled a laugh. Someone obviously wasn't very bright.

"If she does die the boss'll kill us, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Let's dump her out. She probably ain't awake yet anyhow."

Think again, idiots. I closed my eyes and let my body flop like I was still unconscious. A minute later, I was picked up and then dumped onto the ground again, feeling cooler air against my skin instead of the stuffiness inside the sack. The surface of the ground wasn't all that hard, actually, more like grainy like dust...or sand.

"Yup, still out like a light."

"Man, why d'we get the boring job?"

"'Cuz you're stupid, idiot!"

"Oh yeah? Why're you here then?"

A pause. "To make sure you don't mess up?"

I cracked open an eyelid.

I was somewhere still relatively dark, but bright enough for me to see. Two men stood arguing with their backs to me. They were huge, obviously the "all brawn and no brains" type. Stupid, but they would be hard to take out, especially with my five-year-old body. And I didn't really want to KILL them...my eyes roamed around for anything I could use as a weapon and fell on a pile of rocks nearby. In fact, this whole area seemed to be encased in stone...I didn't dwell on that fact. The two morons were still verbally duking it out as best they could with their limited intelligence, so I slowly inched towards the nearest rock while still keeping one eye on them.

"Shut up!" Moron #1 snapped, shoving #2. #2 whined.

"Oww...wha'd I do?"

"You were bein' stupid, stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

"Dunce, idiot!"

"Uhh..."

My eye twitched as I snuck up behind them. Not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer, were they?

"No, you're the---unnnnhh." The eyes of Moron #1 rolled up in his head and I landed on the ground before he fell, rolling out of the way of his body. Moron #2 stepped back.

"Wha--?!"

"Lesson number one for evil villains: never, _ever_ turn your back on a hostage," I informed him before jumping again and bringing the rock crashing down on his head.

He fell over; I landed on his stomach and bent over to look at him. Was it just me or was he still moving?

"One more just in case," I decided and hit him with the rock again. Then I got off him, making sure to step on his face in the process.

_Heh, I'm such a sadist._

Now, where was I...?

I looked up and slowly turned in a circle. The stone all around me was obviously the ruins of some kind of ancient building...

It was when I had turned to face what was behind me that I froze.

Part of a huge wall rose, slightly eroded due to wind and time. It was easily six times my size, even with a part broken off. And the ancient carvings were absolutely unmistakable...

I had been kidnapped and taken to the ancient ruins of Xerxes.

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**The authoress has decided to update early. Yay.**

**Again, this chapter has involved everyone speaking in Chinese. However, in the following chapter the dialogue will be in "Amestrian", or English because the authoress does not want the hassle of making Ming learn a whole new language.**

**The authoress would appreciate any reviews. And cookies, if you have them. Sugar is always welcome.**


	4. Chapter 3: Moonlit Sonata

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Three_

_Moonlit Sonata_

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For a second, I could only gape.

What the hell? Why the hell had I been brought _here_, of all places? Why had my kidnappers, whoever they were, decided to drop in the middle of the Great Desert with two lunkheads who obviously had no clue what they were doing? Moreover, why the hell had I been kidnapped in the first place? For ransom?

But if that were the case, why go into the trouble of taking me all the way out here?

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Questions later, I told myself. First, I had to find a way out of here.

I glanced back at the two thugs I'd managed to knock out, and the glint of metal caught my eye. I took a few cautious steps forward--it was the blade of a knife, tied to the belt of Moron #1.

One never knew what--or who--they could run into in a place like this, right?

I reached forward and pulled the knife away from him. "Sorry, but I'm confiscating this," I told him before weighing the knife in my hand. It was heavy, but I would be able to use it well enough if, or when, I happened to get into trouble.

Now, what to do...?

Horses. When Ed traveled to Xerxes with Armstrong and Breda, they used horses, right? I looked around, but there was no sign of any pack animals. And where were these goons' supplies? Just how long had they intended to stay here with me...?

_Well, no use just standing here. I need to take a better look around._

So I started walking. Since I was in front of that gigantic ancient transmutation-circle thing, I was probably in the temple Ed had visited. _Is this a coincidence...?_ I wondered, looking at the huge columns and steps Edward would see in the future. _Isn't it a little too convenient? Or something? How things turned out this way..._

And then I heard it. Neighing.

_Horses!!_

Relief flooded through me and I ran towards the sound. Thank God I wasn't going to be trapped here!! There they were, two of the most beautiful animals in the world, grazing in one of the grassy spots dotting the area--and next to them, sitting on a couple of stone blocks, were packs of what I assumed were supplies. Well, actually, the horses were rumpled, unkempt, and looked tired, but to me they were wonderful. One of them was going to be my ticket out of here and back home, after all. Home and Ling. A chill went down my back as I remembered him.

_If they got me they shouldn't have gone after him, too...right?_

Well, no use worrying about that now. I hurried towards the horses, leaping onto one of the blocks--

...and heard a click behind my ear.

"Don't move or I'll shoot."

_...what?!!_

* * *

I froze.

_Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshi...wait. Did he just speak_ English?!

Then that would mean...

...my threatener was an Amestrian?!

I relaxed slightly. If this person was Amestrian, that would at least mean he wasn't in league with my kidnappers. Footsteps came from behind me.

"What on...Fin, what do you think you're doing? It's only a child."

"She doesn't even look Amestrian...let her go."

"...I was being careful, that's all."

The cold barrel of the gun was removed from my head. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face the people behind me.

A group of five or six people in cloaks. People with white hair and red eyes and dark skin...

It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.

_Ishvallans...!!_

The young man who had attacked me looked at me with no emotion in his eyes. Another man walked forward from behind him. "What's your name, child? What are you doing in a place like this?"

Mentally I debated. Should I pretend not to understand them? Should I put on my "innocent five year old act"? Should I speak Amestrian? Should I...

Oh, screw it.

Moreover, I didn't even know the way back to Xing. These people could help me...I hoped.

"I could ask you the same question."

Surprise flickered in the Ishvallan's red eyes. "You speak Amestrian?"

_No, Sherlock, you think?_ "Yes." I hesitated, then said, "I'm from Xing."

"How old are you?" The question came from another, older man to my right. I hesitated again.

"Five." That generated more surprise.

"What are you doing here alone?" the man from before asked.

"I was kidnapped and brought here," I said bluntly. More surprise. Then, from behind the group of men came cackling laughter that made me jump. "What the--"

"What an interesting little girl!" The men stepped aside and an old woman with long hair stepped forward. She squinted at me. "You....what's your name?"

There was no harm in telling them, was there? "Ming Yao."

That made her cackle some more, thoroughly confusing the other Ishvallans...and me, of course. "What's so funny?"

"Gahahaha! So, you're the one!" she laughed. "Oh, they didn't expect this, they didn't! Oh, the irony! That _that country, those people,_ would be saved by an outsider!"

I sweatdropped. Was she sane? "What are you talking about? And who are you?"

"She is a priestess of Ishvalla, one who sees Ishvalla's will," one of the men told me solemnly. Oooookay....were they sure she wasn't just off her rocker?

The old priestess finally stopped laughing and looked at me squarely. Her face grew serious. "You, child...you are not from here, are you?"

That made me freeze.

The way she said it, the way she said those words...

As if she knew. As if she knew that "here" for me did not mean Amestris, or Xerxes, or Xing...

...as if she knew it meant this entire world.

I stared at her. She took it as a "yes."

"So I was right after all," she muttered. Then she sighed. "I wish it were not so, but Ishvalla's will cannot be denied. Do you wish to return to Xing, child?"

_Hell fucking yes!_ "Yes, ma'am."

"Then take one of them," she nodded to the horses, "and those bags, and head in that direction." She pointed in what I assumed was east. "You will find yourself home in several hours."

I resisted the urge to jump up and down like a maniac. The men stared at her.

"But, Manya, she's just a child!" one protested. "She can't make it across the desert alone!"

"She can barely sit on a horse," another person muttered. My eye twitched. That was kind of true...but still.

"This one has Ishvalla's protection," she said firmly. "Even if she is not one of us. She will survive. She cannot _not_ survive." She turned to another one of the men. "Saddle one of the horses for her."

To my surprise, he obeyed and I was sitting in a saddle in all of ten minutes. The old priestess looked up at me. I looked back at her, feeling uncomfortable.

"Um...thank you for helping me," I said uncertainly. "You...er..." I looked around me, at the Ishvallans watching me. "Are you here because of the war?"

It was a stupid thing to say. One of the men's eyes narrowed. "How does a Xingese child know of the civil war?"

"Calm, Fin," the priestess said. "She knows many things others do not." I stared at her.

Okay, now I was thoroughly creeped out. How did she know this much? What was she, psychic?

"Yes, we are here because of the war," she admitted. "Or rather, I am. They have brought me here so I might be safe and continue to pray to Ishvalla to deliver us from this danger. Soon some of them will be returning to fight for our brothers..." She gave a heavy sigh. "We can only hope that this fighting will end, soon."

A few of the men looked angry; others looked weary and sad. Feeling uncomfortable again, I nodded. "Well, um, good luck and everything. I...."

"Go on, child," the priestess said calmly. "Our troubles are not yours."

So what could I do? I left, patting my horse to calm him and hoping that I wouldn't get lost on the way back to Xing.

* * *

Manya watched me go.

"No, Ming Yao, our troubles are not yours...but your own troubles have only just begun," she murmured.

Silence fell over them. Then, one of the men cleared his throat.

"Er, Manya..."

"Yes, what is it?"

"It may be, ah, a little too late...but east is that way." He pointed in the direction opposite to the one Manya had showed me. "The child is going west."

"..."

A long and awkward silence followed.

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**The authoress apologizes for having taken so long to update. The only excuse she can give is that finals and projects took their toll on her free time. However, since school is out, she now has plenty of time and will do her best to update more often.**

**Again, reviews and sugar are welcome.**


	5. Chapter 4: Solitary Nocturne

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Four_

_Solitary Nocturne_

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"..."

I stared.

_What...the...hell._

My eye twitched.

Okay, so maybe I wasn't the smartest person in the world, this one or the one I came from...

...but despite my sadly limited intelligence, I was pretty sure this _was not_ Xing.

For one thing, there was nothing remotely Xingese about the pretty much barren landscape, the few Western-style houses that dotted it, and the coal-mining machinery that was everywhere. **(A/N: would anyone like to hazard a guess as to where she is?) **For another, there were people walking around who had _blonde_ and _brown_ hair.

Yes, Sherlock, it would seem that we have a case of _mistaken direction_ here.

_"I hope I don't get lost."_

Oh, the _irony._

My eye twitched again.

_"You will find yourself home in a few hours," she says. **MY ASS.**_

_...I don't care if she's a fucking priestess, when I see that old granny again, I am going to_ **KILL HER!!!**

I turned and glanced back at the way I had come. Just _thinking _about that seemingly-endless desert made me tired and hot, not to mention the fact that I had completely run out of supplies and my horse was almost dead on its hooves. What the hell was I supposed to do now...?!!

"...hey. You, kid, what are you doing there?"

"Huh?"

I turned around.

A tall man--or maybe he only looked tall to me since I was a short five-year-old--stared at me, looking puzzled. He was dirty, sweating, and a pick sat in his hands, although he looked perfectly placid. "You don't look like you're from around here...are you lost?"

"Erm...yes, you could say that," I answered him, sweatdropping slightly. "Lost" was putting it lightly.

He looked at me some more and then knelt down to my level. "What's your name, kid? How old are you?"

"My name's, ah, Ming..." Best not to give anyone my last name. Why? Paranoia. "...yeah. I'm five."

That surprised him. "That's pretty young. What're you doing here on your own? Where are your parents?"

"They're not here," I answered, deciding to stick to the truth. What? It was the truth! He frowned.

"So how did you get here, then?"

I pointed to road that led to the desert. He looked at it for a second, not comprehending, then started, shocked. "You came from across the desert?! You're from Xing?!"

"Yup."

"Unbelievable..." he muttered under his breath. "How could a kid travel that far by herself?!"

"I'll admit it wasn't easy," I answered. Was it just me or was it getting a little hard to breathe...?

And then I did the most uncharacteristic, OOC (I can say that since technically I'm an anime character now!! Ahahaha...) thing I had ever done in that point in my short life.

I fainted.

* * *

**_"...what?! What do you mean she got away?!"_**

**_"Th...that's just what I mean, sir. Apparently, she knocked out her two guards and..."_**

**_"Bah! Those useless fools. I knew I couldn't trust them with such an important duty."_**

**So why did you do it anyway...? _"Pardon me, sir, but what are you going to do now?"_**

**_"...that depends. Where is the girl?"_**

**_"We're not sure, sir. Our sources say that she has not yet returned to her home in Xing, but neither is she in the Xerxes, and she took one of the horses..."_**

**_Silence._**

**_"...how convenient."_**

**_"S-Sir?"_**

**_"Send some of our people to Amestris...tell them to find the girl using_ any means necessary_."_**

**_"...yes, sir..."_**

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"I think she's waking up, dear."

"That's good. So she passed out from hunger, huh? Not surprised, seeing as she came all this way."

"She did cross the desert, didn't she? I mean...that's an amazing feat, especially for someone her age."

"That's what she said."

"Mmm..."

"Ah, she _is_ waking up."

I was in a bed. A very comfortable one, that was for sure. It felt like _ages_ since I'd been in a warm bed...

And what was that smell? Whatever it was, it had me drooling. It wasn't the smell of Xingese food, although there was nothing wrong with that. It was the smell of...of... I tried to remember. It was so familiar, but that was so long ago I had completely forgotten...

I opened my eyes.

Two people, the man from before and a woman who was probably his wife, sat next to where I was lying. The woman smiled cheerfully. "Good! You're awake. Would you like some soup?"

_Food?!! _I sat up immediately. "**Yes please!!**"

She laughed and walked away. "Coming right up!"

_...A few hours and tons of food later..._

"AHHH!" I sighed and fell back onto my pillow. "That was awesome! Thanks for the meal!"

"....n-n-no p-problem...." the man stuttered out, staring with tears in his eyes at the piles of empty plates next to my bed. Then he staggered out. I laughed sheepishly, sweatdropping. So maybe I was a little more like my brother than I thought...?

"So, um..." I looked at the woman. "Excuse me, but where am I?"

She picked up some of the plates, smiling at me. "You're at the Youswell Coal Mines!"

I almost choked right there.

_...say **WHAT?!**_

_Well, that does kind of make sense, I guess, since Mei Chang came from there and all, but...._

"...er, who are you?" I asked, just as someone else said, "Mama?"

Wait, what?

I turned. A little boy probably two or three years younger than me toddled over to the woman and grabbed her legs, peeking at me from behind them. "Mama, who's this?"

She smiled tenderly and ruffled his hair. "This is Ming. She came from very very far away Xing!" My eye twitched at the rhyme.

"So...is this your son?" I said, as the boy stared at me with wide eyes.

"Yes, this is Kayal," she picked him up. He laughed. "He's my husband's and my pride and joy."

"...I can, uh, see why," I said, to be polite.

_So...what should I do now?_

_I could stay here...but pretty soon this place will get pretty tough, what with Yoki and all...I guess it would be best if I left...._

I coughed, making Kayal and his mother look at me. "Ah...thanks for helping me out and letting me eat and rest here and everything...but I need to go."

"Go? Where?"

...good question.

_Very_ good question.

Where should I go?

Back to Xing was the obvious choice, but why did I get a sense of foreboding every time I thought about going back?

I sighed as the pang of loneliness hit me. I missed Ling, dammit! Alright, even if I ran into danger if I tried to find my way home, screw it! I would kick their asses and see how they liked it when someone shoved a stick up their asses!

"Oh." Danger...that reminded me. Where was my knife? The one I had taken from one of the thugs from earlier? "Excuse me, where's my knife?"

"Oh, that," Kayal's father said, walking into the room. "Well, I thought it was a little dangerous for a kid to hold on to, so I put it over there." He nodded at a drawer in the corner, where the knife sat, gleaming even in the dim light. "I don't think you should keep it, kid. Something like that will get you in trouble."

_No need to worry! I get into enough trouble already _without_ the knife! _"You don't have to--"

**_BOOM._**

The loud explosion made us all start. I fell off the bed; Kayal screamed. His mother covered his ears and said, with wide eyes, "What was that?!"

Suddenly, another man came running in, looking panicked. "Boss! Boss, there are these weird people outside--they could be terrorists, I don't know, but--"

"Terrorists?!" Kayal's father exclaimed. "What on earth...what could terrorists want with this place?!"

"They're shouting at us to bring out the Yao girl, otherwise they're going to burn the town to the ground!" the man said, shaking. "What are we gonna do, Boss?! We don't even know who they're talking about, and they're serious! They just exploded Joseph's house!"

I sat there on the ground, frozen as my brain processed what my ears had heard. Then I clenched my teeth. _Those bastards...they're willing to destroy an entire town just to look for me?! What would they have done if I wasn't even here?!_

What was I supposed to do now...? I looked at Kayal and his parents, who were exchanging glances of sheer terror, and the man who stood shaking in the doorway.

There was only one option, of course.

I stood up and started walking to the drawer in the corner. As I grasped the knife and tucked it into my belt, Kayal's mother stared at me, surprised. "Ming...? What are you doing? Don't go out there, it's dangerous!"

"It's okay." I paused and turned to her with a grin. "Don't worry! These people seem like they want me alive, so it's not like I'm gonna get killed or anything." _...right?_ "I'm sorry for bringing this trouble on you and your town after you saved me and helped me out so much." I hesitated, then added, "but I promise...I'll repay my debt to you someday."

Then I turned and ran past the shaking man to face my kidnappers.

Parts of the town were on fire; I could see the red and orange glows in contrast with the stark blackness of the night. Townspeople were running around, panicking and screaming. Some were carrying others, friends or family who had been injured or burned in the explosions of the buildings. I swallowed down the bile that was building in my throat and forced myself to keep looking around. I still couldn't see any of the "terrorists," although I could see all the destruction they had left behind in plain sight.

So what was I supposed to do? Jump on a roof and shout "I'M HERE!!" for all to see?

...well, it was worth a shot.

So I jumped onto a roof. It wasn't that hard, especially considering all the training I'd been doing all the years back at home. Then I took a deep breath, but before I could say anything--

"Go ahead and scream!" someone else shouted. "You will not escape unless you bring out the Yao princess!"

Two figures clad in black stood on a rooftop not too far from mine. As I watched, one tossed something up and down before throwing it at another building. Within minutes, that building exploded.

Fury swept through me and I took another deep breath, cupping my hands around my mouth.

"**_HEY, ASSWIPES!!_**"

That made them stop and turn.

"IF IT'S THE PRINCESS YOU WANT, SHE'S RIGHT HERE!!" I yelled. "WHAT'S WRONG, IDIOTS?!! COME AFTER ME ALREADY!!"

With only brief hesitation, they did so.

"Ah...frick. I shouldn't have said that, huh?" I muttered before glancing around me. I wasn't about to be knocked out by someone coming from behind me a _second_ time! Okay, so no one else around me besides the two bastards...for now, at least. Good. That means I can concentrate on beating the crap out of these two.

Speaking of which, they were coming right at me.

"Come peacefully and we will not harm you," the first person said in Xingese. I snarled. I'm not kidding, I actually _snarled_. I have no clue where that sound came from.

"No harm to me, huh? So what about this town?" I held out an arm to indicate Youswell. "Are you gonna pay property damages for all the destruction you're causing here? Are you going to pay for the hospital bills of all the people you've injured? Are you going to pay for the _funerals_ of the people you've _killed?!_" I was screaming at them now. "YOU ASSHOLES, HOW LOW CAN YOU GET?! YOU WERE WILLING TO DESTROY THIS PLACE JUST SO YOU COULD GET TO ME?!"

"Our orders were to use any means necessary," the second person stated calmly. "And obviously, this method worked well."

I let rage overwhelm me and charged them.

The next few moments were a blur. I can't tell you exactly what I did, or what they did. I kicked. I dodged. I punched. I dodged. I got hit quite a few times, but sheer fury kept me going. But by the end of those moments, I was laying pinned to the roof by the two of them, the three of us breathing heavily.

"We told you to come peacefully!" the first person said angrily. I smiled tiredly. _Somehow, that sounds familiar...so what, I'm finished now?_

Then I felt something pressing against my back and realized that I had forgotten...

_...the** knife.**_

Below us, I heard the people still screaming, shouting.

"Put out the fires!"

"Get me water! Someone get me water!"

"Hang on, Joseph! Hang in there!"

"NO!! Mama, don't die!!"

"Someone help us!!"

Rage swept through me a second time.

_These bastards are going to **pay** for this_.

I forced myself to relax, acting like I was out of breath and in no condition to fight. The fact that I was five years old would probably help them underestimate me, too. It did. The grip on my arms loosened.

The moment they did, I reached back, whipped out the knife and slashed it upwards.

...

...

...

_Blood in red droplets across the air._

_Screams mixing with the screaming of those below them._

...

...

...

I was standing up now, staring at the body in front of me, not comprehending.

The second man let out a strangled yell and scrambled backwards.

"_You...what are you?! How...you..._"

How strange--you'd think he'd be used to death. After all, he'd probably hurt plenty of the Youswell townspeople.

Or maybe it was just the shock of seeing a little girl with a knife in her hands, her weapon splattered with blood.

All the rage drained out of me as I watched the other man turn and run. As he left my sight, I looked back down at the body at my feet.

The screams continued to ring through the air...and I didn't know if they were mine, his, or those of the people below. All I knew was that they wouldn't stop.

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**The authoress hopes you enjoyed this chapter, although the fighting scenes were rather fail because she sucks at writing them.**

**The authoress looks forward to your reviews.**


	6. Chapter 5: Preliminary Scherzo

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Five_

_Preliminary Scherzo_

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_I had made my first kill._

_Or, rather, I had killed someone for the first time._

_I say that without any pride, because taking the life of another human, no matter how evil they are, is never something to be proud of._

_I buried the knife and the body. It was difficult enough for a five-year-old to carry the limp body of a full grown man off of a roof, but the knowledge that _I_ had killed him made it even more difficult. I found an out-of-the-way spot and buried him, along with the knife, because I didn't even want to _touch_ another weapon again, let alone this one._

_And then, without saying goodbye to Kayal or his parents, I left Youswell by train. They were busy cleaning up the town anyway, and even if Kayal didn't understand, I'm sure his parents knew that I was somehow responsible for the destruction. However indirectly, I was still responsible._

_I watched the partly-ruined town slowly disappear from my vision, not knowing where I was going, and not caring. As long as it was far enough away from this town and the border between Xing and Amestris. As long as it was somewhere where _they_ couldn't find me. Because any place where they found me was bound to be somewhere I would remember for its destruction...and maybe another kill._

**I'm sorry, Ling...looks like we won't be able to see each other for a while.**

* * *

_"Approaching East City Station."_

"Ughhh--uwa?" I yawned and sat up to stretch, rubbing one bleary eye. "Did they say East City? We're there?" I let out another involuntary yawn. I had slept through practically the entire train ride, and felt oddly sluggish. "Hmmm...I guess I should get up then."

As I unboarded the train and walked through the station, I ignored the stares directed towards me. Black hair and eyes couldn't be that uncommon, could they? Especially what with Mustang. I fingered my two braids. No, it couldn't be the hair. It was more likely the fact that I was a little girl walking around on my own, and my Xingese clothing that attracted the odd looks--I made a mental note to exchange them as soon as possible for something more localized.

That was another point, I realized. If I walked around in broad daylight wearing clearly Eastern clothing, that would make me a lot easier to find. All my kidnappers would have to do would be to ask around for a Xingese girl. But if I changed my clothes and blended in better, perhaps that would throw them off the trail. It was something I would have to try as soon as I could.

...but _how_, exactly? I frowned as I exited the station. It was morning--I had boarded the train at night--and I was starving, badly. I had absolutely nothing besides what I was wearing. Great, at this rate I was probably going to starve to death before those stupid kidnappers caught up with me.

And _why_ were they so determined to capture me in the first place? It was something I had contemplated before dropping off on the train. Why did they want me so badly? If it were for ransom, I had given them enough trouble--why wouldn't they just let me go? It would make things a lot easier for both me and them. And if it weren't for ransom, if they were assassins, they had had their chance to kill me already. What other purpose could they have?

I decided that I really didn't want to think about it anymore. The important thing was to not let them catch me, right? And I wouldn't.

Starving to death was another matter altogether.

"Soooooo hungry," I moaned, dragging my feet up the sidewalk. "This is it, I'm going to starve to death. I'm gonna diiiiiiiie--no, I don't want to die! I'm still so young!" Pause. "Fooooood...need food...I'm so hungry...I sound like Gluttony. No, scratch that, I sound like _Ling_. Huh. Guess I'm more like that idiot than I thought. Maybe it's a Yao thing?"

As I wandered aimlessly (getting thoroughly lost in the process), head down and rambling under my breath, I failed to notice the fact that I was about to crash into a huge-ass block of a man with a black beard. Wait, a man? What man? Oh, you mean _that_ ma--

BAM.

I fell backwards onto the ground and rubbed my head. "_Ow!_ That friggin' hurt, you--"

Then I looked up. And up. And up. And farther up. Multiple sweatdrops dotted my head.

Again, this was a huge-ass _block_ of a man. He had short-cut black hair and a black beard, wearing a white T-shirt over his bulging muscles. As his dark, narrowed eyes regarded me from their position about four times taller than I was at the moment, I gulped.

_...meep. Please don't eat me._

"Hmmm? What's wrong, dear?"

As the woman's voice came from behind him, the man raised a hand slowly. I sweated. _Holy crap, what's he gonna do? WHAT'S HE GONNA DO?!! IS HE GOING TO KILL ME?! I CHANGE MY MIND, STARVING TO DEATH DOESN'T SOUND SO BAD AFTER ALL--_

He patted my head. The impact definitely knocked out a few hundred of my brain cells.

"Be more careful." His voice was a deep, low rumble.

I stared at him.

...so looks are deceiving? Maybe?

"Um, okay," I said at last. "I'll do that."

Then, for the second time in two days (I sincerely hoped that I wasn't making this a usual thing), I fainted.

_A few hours and tons of food later...(you know the drill)_

Honestly, I had to find a way to stop fainting from hunger. Of course, it would be best if I could find a way to keep from starving in the first place, but if I was going to starve, I should at least have a higher tolerance level for it!

Ling, if you're listening, I blame you.

Anyway, I ended up being dragged to a restraunt, where I proceeded to stuff myself as the empty plates piled themselves up higher and higher around me. The man I had bumped into and his wife, an oddly familiar-looking woman with a black ponytail, gaped. When I finally couldn't eat any more, I leaned back in my chair and wiped my mouth with a napkin.

"Ahhhh, thanks for the food! Honestly, you two saved my life! You guys are awesome!"

"..."

The woman crossed her arms, looking like she was trying hard not to stare at the stack of plates. "Are you feeling better?"

"Lots!" I grinned. It was hard not to feel happy when you'd just been fed the equivalent of four or five meals.

"Good," she smiled. "Now, what's your name? Where are your parents?"

That made me pause. It would be best not to give my real name, in case those people started asking around, right? But then again, my clothes were pretty Xingese. "Um, I'm Mei Chang." (Shut up.) "I...don't have parents." Well, it was kind of true. My mom was dead and I'd never even met my dad face-to-face, so technically he was dead to me.

The man and the woman exchanged glances.

"How old are you?" the woman asked.

"Five."

That earned me some surprise. "Really? You have a large vocabulary for a five-year-old."

I sweatdropped. _Well, maybe that's because I'm actually a thirteen-year-old trapped in a five-year-old body! Actually, I'm not so sure about my age anymore...am I eighteen? Hm._ "Yeah, okay. What about you guys? Who are you?"

"I'm Izumi Curtis," the woman pointed to herself, then to her husband, "and this is my husband, Sig Curtis."

My napkin fluttered to the floor.

_...wait. SAY WHAT?!!_

Okay, now this is just A LITTLE BIT CREEPY.

First I end up in _Amestris_, and then I randomly run into _Izumi Curtis?_ What are the chances of that happening?! Like, _nil?!_

I stared at the couple in front of me. Now that I examined them more closely (I hadn't exactly been doing that as I stuffed my face), they really did look like Sig and Izumi, although a bit younger. Izumi was even wearing that white dress we always saw her in in the manga, with that red tattoo over her chest.

"...we're from Dublith, but we're traveling around right now," Izumi was saying. "Are you from Xing?"

_No, Sherlock, _you think? "Yes, ma'am."

"Really? You crossed the desert to come over to Amestris?" She raised an eyebrow. "Now that I think about it, if your parents aren't with you, who did you come with?"

"I came on my own," I said honestly.

Izumi gave me a shocked look. Even Sig, normally expressionless, looked surprised. "You...but you _are _five years old, aren't you?"

"Technically, yes." No use trying to hide that, and besides, if they really were Izumi and Sig Curtis, I probably didn't have to hide too much anyway. Hopefully. I still had no clue why or how I had ended up in a position like this, but I decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth.

"Erm, excuse me, ma'am?" A waiter, looking slightly scared, timidly walked up to Izumi. She glanced at him.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Um, this is," the waiter swallowed, "your bill for today, ma'am." He handed her a slip of paper.

I watched as her eyes scanned the total and bulged.

"Um, yeah, sorry about that," I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head. "And I can't exactly pay you back right now, since I don't have any money--"

"Why is a little kid talking about paying back an adult?" Izumi demanded, sounding angry for whatever reason and standing up. "You're just a child, honestly, how can you think about debts to someone like that? Honey, I'm going to go pay the bill."

"Alright," Sig rumbled as she walked away.

Five minutes later she was back, folding up a wallet that was almost empty.

"Well, looks like paying for this is going to cut our trip short, dear," she sighed, slipping the wallet into her pocket. "We'll have to call Mason and get back to Dublith soon. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to enjoy our vacation longer--"

"Don't say that," Sig said, actually managing to sound gentle. "You know I'm happy just being with you."

"Darling...!!"

Multiple sweatdrops went down my head as they embraced, sparkles and flowers surrounding them both. _Oookay...looks like these two don't change over time at all. _I coughed. "Excuse me--"

Izumi whirled around to face me. "Right. And as for _you_--come on. You're coming with us back to Dublith."

"--..." I lost my train of thought and gaped at her. "...say _what?!_"

"It's obvious you don't have a place to stay, or anything else from the looks of it," she continued. "We're taking you home, and maybe from there we'll find you a proper family to take care of you, but no matter what we do you can't be allowed to stay on the streets on your own." I opened my mouth to protest; she held up a hand. "I can tell just from talking to you that you're not a normal kid, but that doesn't matter. Not even a genius can survive alone with no money or a place to go."

I blinked at what she had called me. A "genius"? Was that what I was? Come to think of it, probably. Something like a teenage mind in a kid's body wouldn't make any sense to anyone besides me, but a genius...hmm. It fit, I guess, even though I knew that I was far from being an actual genius. I just had a head start on everyone else "my" age, that was all.

And Izumi was right. Hadn't I been moaning earlier about how I had absolutely nothing besides my clothing? And about starving to death? If I rejected Izumi's offer that was likely to be the fate that awaited me. And what if I fainted and was found by some shady character? Or worse, what if I was found by a shady character and I _hadn't_ fainted?

I slammed the lid down on my imagination and forced myself to look at Izumi again; she had crossed her arms and was waiting for me to say something.

And I realized how lucky I was, and how generous these people were. Even if it were a little kid, not many people would be willing to take in a complete stranger.

"Thank you," I said at last, my voice small.

Izumi's eyes softened and she reached out to ruffle my hair. "I don't know what happened to you before this, but you're safe now." She paused and smiled a smile that I could only describe as 'motherly.' "So let's hurry up and get you home."

* * *

"Mei, do you know alchemy?"

I turned away from the window, remembering that Mei was the name I had given Izumi, and blinked. It had been a day since I had been taken by the Curtises, and we were sitting on a train to Dublith. Sig and Izumi sat across from me; Sig was buried in a newspaper, while Izumi watched me, leaning forward with her chin on her hand. She had been acting pretty differently from how I had thought she would act, but that was probably because I was a little kid and not a teenager, so she didn't deal with me the same way she would deal with Ed and Al in the future.

"Alchemy? No," I admitted, pulling at my shirt. Before getting on the train Izumi had taken me shopping for some new clothes, since my Xingese ones attracted stares and were dirty and worn anyway. I had steadfastly refused to wear a dress, so now I sat in a T-shirt and shorts. Much more comfortable--and familiar, too. "We don't have alchemy in Xing. Not like Amestris does, anyway."

"Are you talking about the purification arts?" Her black eyes flickered with interest. "I've heard about them, but there's not much material on them in Amestris."

"That's probably because no one else in Amestris is interested," I said, leaning back. I hadn't intentionally tried to sense auras in days, but Izumi's was steadily getting more and more familiar. The aura of a normal human, but one that almost had stains on it, like blood... "I can tell you about it, if you want," I offered. She smiled.

"It sounds interesting."

"Are you an alchemist, Miss Izumi?" I already knew she was, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. She nodded. "Then the purification arts are different from the alchemy you know. We use them for medicine and healing."

"For healing?" Izumi grimaced. "Hmm. That sounds a lot more sensible than what we use it for here."

"Why? How do you use it here?"

"Hmmm...for war, mostly," she said, sounding disapproving. "Amestris is mostly a military country--you know what that means, right?" I nodded. "You really are a genius, huh? Anyway, we have special alchemists recruited in the military. They're called 'state alchemists,' but they're really dogs of the military." She scowled. "'Alchemists work for the people' is our motto, but they do all sorts of things for the military that don't help anyone. Especially right now, with the civil war."

"You don't like state alchemists," I stated. Well, that much was evident, what with Izumi's fury when she found out Ed became one of them. "Are you talking about the Ishballan Civil War?"

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "You know about it?"

"Er..." I scrambled for an excuse. "I came to Amestris through the Eastern area, so..."

"I see." She laughed. "I was thinking about enrolling you in the school once we got you settled in, but I'm really not too sure what level they'll put you in."

I sweatdropped and smiled nervously. I didn't know much about the Amestris educational system, but from what I'd seen through Ed and Al, I was pretty sure that at my level I'd be out of school and ready to start working already.

"But we shouldn't talk about the war," Izumi finally said. "It's still not something you should hear about. Weren't you going to tell me about the purification arts?"

"Oh, right, sorry, I got sidetracked," I said sheepishly. "So--" Then I had a sudden thought.

Even if I knew Izumi was awesome and could be trusted, should I really tell her everything I knew about Rentanjutsu? After all, Amestris was a military country, and...I suddenly remembered something Olivia Armstrong had said in one of the later chapters.

_"You can **never** have enough weapons at your disposal."_

I knew that because of her dislike for them, Izumi would never join or assist the military, but if she told someone else about it and that someone else blabbed--_and what about the homunculi?_

I felt a chill. All this time I had completely forgotten about them, except for Ling becoming Greed. After all, before I had been in Xing, where none of them could touch me or affect me in anyway. But now here I was in Amestris, their home front. It was unlikely that I would run into any of them any time soon, and even more unlikely that any of them knew about me, but I would have to deal with them sometime in the future, especially since I was Ling's twin and was currently living with Izumi.

I made a mental note to write down everything I could remember about the homunculi as soon as I could get my hands on a pen and paper--probably in Xing script so no one else could read it.

And for now--when Father had stopped all alchemy in Central, I remembered, Rentanjutsu had still been able to work. So it was something of a "secret weapon" against him.

It was clear that I had to be extremely careful with details dealing with Rentanjutsu.

"...Mei? Mei?" Izumi was talking now, sounding concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, recovering from my sudden epiphany. "But, you know--I don't really know much about Rentanjutsu. I'm not an alchemist, so..."

"I see," she said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Well, that's fine. You can't help what you don't know, after all."

The next ten minutes were spent in silence.

Then I remembered something I had been meaning to do ever since yesterday.

"Oh--Miss Izumi?"

"What is it?"

"My name..." I swallowed. "...it's not 'Mei.' I thought you should know that."

Sig closed his newspaper and eyed me. Izumi's eyebrow went up again.

"It was just--you know, I had no idea who you were and...er, I wanted to be safe, so..."

Silence.

Then Izumi laughed. "I feel like I should be surprised, but I'm not."

"What?" I stared at her.

"You don't have to explain yourself," she said, leaning back. "You were on your own and scared, and you didn't know if you could trust anyone. So you didn't give us your real name. That's fine. But do you trust us now?"

"Yes," I said immediately.

"Alright, so--what's your real name?"

Pause.

**_"Give us the Yao girl if you want to live!!"_**

I swallowed, hesitated, made the decision.

"I can't give you my last name," I said at last. "But my first name is..."

* * *

"...Ming..."

A solitary figure sat on the ground.

"Why did you leave me, Ming-Ming? I don't understand."

"Young master, she didn't leave you," someone else said quietly. "People took her away."

Ling looked up at Fu. "Is she gone? Like Mother?"

Fu sighed. _Poor child, having to deal with such pain at this young age...just like my granddaughter, who has lost both her parents. But at least I can give him some hope._ "No, not like your mother. We don't know where your sister is, but we don't know that she's gone like your mother. She could come back...or you could find her, someday."

Ling turned back to staring down. "I promised..."

"Young master?"

"I promised Ming I'd be emperor," Ling whispered. "Cuz she laughed and said I couldn't. But I told her I could."

Silence.

Abruptly, Ling stood up, drying his tears on his sleeve. He started walking away; Fu followed him. "Young master? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to be the next emperor."

That made Fu stop for a second.

"I'll learn a lot and I'll be the next emperor. That would make Ming happy, right?" Ling looked at Fu. "Right?"

Fu, unable to say anything, simply nodded. Reassured, Ling went on.

"And then I'll find Ming and we can be together again, and that would make her even happier, cuz I'd be emperor and she wouldn't be gone anymore."

Finally, Fu spoke. "Young master, you understand that becoming the next emperor is not an easy thing to do."

Ling bit his lip.

"I don't care," he said at last. "I'm going to do it, 'cuz I promised Ming. And...and I promise, I'm going to find her, too."

He looked at Fu, fierce determination burning in his eyes, uncanny in one so young.

_**"I'll do whatever it takes."**_

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**There is, apparently, no need for an apology for a slow update this time, since the authoress updated just yesterday.**

**She does, however, apologize for the cliche-ness of Ming meeting up with the Curtises. It's not exactly original or unique, but it was somewhat necessary. Actually, the authoress wanted Ming to meet up with Mustang at first, but then she realized that Mustang is probably currently still fighting Ishballans and that he would be an EXTREMELY bad influence on Ming.**

**The authoress also apologizes if Izumi or Sig seem OOC. She doesn't really know what their reactions would be to a little kid, and wrote this part of the story to the best of her ability, which is pretty poor.**

**And the authoress knows that Ming should have told Izumi about Rentanjutsu so they could have the upper hand while battling the homunculi, but unfortunately, Ming didn't think of it. She's just that kind of person. Apparently.**

**Last, the authoress would like to thank fire spirit for their critique.**

**Reviews?**


	7. Filler: Medley

**_[Because the authoress is slightly unsure of how to write chapter six, she has decided to write a selection of random memories during the time skip from the last chapter to the next instead..._**

**_...oh, and she realizes that all this time she has forgotten to do the disclaimer. So: the authoress does not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If she did, Envy would finally GET SOME PANTS.]_**

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**S I N . H E A R T**

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_-Filler-_

_Medley_

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"Wow, so this is Dublith!"

Pause.

"...it's hooooot," I moaned.

"Ah, you can handle it," Izumi smiled and ruffled my hair. "You crossed the desert, didn't you?"

"That's true, I gu--"

"BLEARGH!!"

Blood suddenly gushed out of Izumi's mouth; I stared blankly. Then,

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!" I ran around panicking. "AAHHH!!!!! MISS IZUMI'S BLEEDING!!! SHE'S THROWING UP BLOOD!!!! AAAAAHHH, MR. SIG, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!!!! HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SH--"

A well-timed slap was sent my way.

"Don't swear!"

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"..." I stared.

"..." He stared back.

_Another_ muscle dude? He wasn't as big or imposing as Sig was, and he did look pretty friendly, but--

"Boss, who's the kid?" the man asked.

"This is Ming," Izumi patted my head. "We're going to try and find her a place to stay here, but if we can't, she'll stay with us."

"...." He stared.

"...." I stared back.

He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Whatever you say. Hiya, kid, I'm Mason. I help out at Boss's butcher shop!" He held out a hand.

"..." I stared.

"...." He stared back.

I bit his finger.

Pause.

"OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!"

_**"MING!!"**_

"...um, oops?"

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"Come to think of it, Miss Izumi, I've never seen you do alchemy before," I realized out loud. Izumi paused from where she was washing dishes--I was drying--and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to?"

I nodded rapidly. She smiled slightly and put aside the plate she was working on. "Come along, then." She led me outside, where she knelt down, beckoning me to do the same. I did. She clapped her hands together and then to the ground.

Blue light shone and crackled like electricity, making me squint. When the light disappeared, a statue of a cat made of earth sat in front of me.

"..."

"Ming? What do you think?" Izumi prompted me.

"..."

"Ming?"

"...oh. My. Gods," I said slowly. **(1)**

"What?"

"...THAT WAS SO COOL!! ALCHEMY IS SO FREAKING POWN! CAN YOU TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT?!! IT WAS AWESOME!! IT--"

Izumi smacked me. "Quiet down!"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"This is a transmutation circle," Izumi explained. "Touch it and let's see if you have any aptitude for alchemy."

I stared at the white chalk lines. So, this was the moment of truth, huh? To see whether I could do alchemy or not. _Well, it will be kind of surprising if I _can't_ do alchemy, since practically every single girl who ends up in FMA _can, I realized with a sweatdrop. I took a deep breath and clapped my hands to the circle.

For a horrible, breathtaking moment, nothing happened.

_Ah snap. Don't tell me--_

Then it came. A feeling of _power_ flowing through my body. The flashing blue-white light. A slightly loud boom. Then it died down and what was in front of me was--

"..."

"..."

"...Ming."

"Ehehehe, yes?"

"...why did you transmute a _lightbulb_ out of _dirt?_"

* * *

Unfortunately, I was unable to learn alchemy completely uneffortlessly like all those other people you hear about landing in FMA. I actually had to _study _and _practice_ like the good little girl I was. And there were _tests_. Horrible, horrible tests. I had always failed at testing, both figuratively and literally.

"Hmmm..." Izumi's eyes narrowed.

I sweated.

"Hmmmmmm...." Her eyes narrowed even more.

I was drenched.

"...you made a mistake here," she pointed at one of my runes. I leaned forward and mentally smacked myself on the head when I realized she was right. I'd put the rune for "earth" instead of "wood." Ah, snap. "...but other than that, you did nothing wrong," she concluded.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Unfortunately, that _one_ mistake would have made your _entire_ transmutation wrong," she said, cutting my relief short. "You fail. As punishment, give me fifty pushups!"

"WHAT?!!"

"I'm adding fifty more every time you complain!"

"But--"

"One hundred and fifty! MOVE IT!"

"...yes ma'am..." _I swear, a few more years of this and I might just end up looking like Armstrong...or Sig, for that matter._

* * *

Izumi stood in the doorway of what had become my room.

"You did a good job today, Ming," she said, turning off the lights. "Rest up. We'll start again tomorrow!"

I mentally groaned. _She sounds so damn _cheerful_ when she says that...forget __turning into Armstrong. I'LL DIE FIRST!!_

She started to close the door and paused. "Ming..."

"Yes?" I tensed up. Please_ don't make me do more push-ups. I can't take anymore!!_

"...sleep tight."

I blinked, surprised. Then I relaxed and closed my eyes, yawning. "Okay. G'night, Miss Izumi."

"Good night." She closed the door.

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**(1)--the real-life Ming actually says this. "Oh my gods" refers to the Greek gods and goddesses, because both the real-life Ming and the authoress are _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ fans.**

**The authoress apologizes for the fact that this isn't an actual chapter. She also apologizes for the overuse of ellipses. And as for the part where Ming bites Mason on the finger, the authoress isn't quite sure why she wrote that. It was just an idea that popped into her head, and she's sure Ming apologized to Mason afterwards.**

**The authoress wrote this chapter to get over a minor case of writer's block, so she'll try and write the real Chapter Six now. Wish her luck.**

**Reviews for this filler?**


	8. Chapter 6: Stormy Capo

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Six_

_Stormy Capo_

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**_Four years later..._**

_"Resembool Station. Resembool Station."_

"Finally!" I yawned, stretching my arms. "Have I ever mentioned that I hate trains?"

"Don't complain!" Izumi rapped me sharply on the head. "And if you don't want to go back to Dublith, you can stay here."

I winced, rubbing the place where she'd hit me. "Yes ma'am." Then I got a good look outside the station and grinned. "It's raining. Sweet."

"It's pretty heavy," Sig noted. "I'll get our umbrellas."

"Thank you, honey. Resembool does apparently get a lot of rain at this time of the year."

Yes, Resembool. Every so often, apparently, both Izumi and Sig got a large dose of wanderlust and dragged me around Amestris with them with nothing except our wallets and maybe an extra jacket or two. Well, not really dragged. I _did_ want to see more of this country, but I disliked trains--they reminded me of Youswell--and there weren't really that many other methods of long-distance transportation available to us. Anyway, this time their destination was Resembool. I had no idea why they had suddenly gotten the urge to come so far out east and so far out in the countryside--maybe because it was peaceful? They had actually given me the choice to go or not, and for once I decided I could put up with trains.

After all, on this trip Izumi would meet Ed and Al. Finally, after four freaking years of waiting, the plotline would start moving! (Not that those four years hadn't been productive--they had.)

"Here, Ming, your jacket." Sig tossed it to me and I slipped it on over my T-shirt, glad for the warmth. I loved the rain, but I didn't deal with cold too well. Thank God I had decided to go with regular pants instead of shorts. "Umbrella."

I redid my ponytail before opening the umbrella, trying to get that one annoying bang out of my eye. Apparently, I really was starting to look like Ling--just a lot more girly, and probably shorter. I hadn't grown that much during these past four years.

_Ling_...a day didn't go by where I didn't think of him. I freaking missed him, dammit. I wondered if I should try and get back to Xing now--after all, it had been four years and I'd succeeded in keeping a relatively low profile. I wanted to see Ling again. I wanted to tell him I was okay. He probably thought I was dead...

"Well, come on, let's go!" Izumi said cheerfully. With her and Sig sharing one umbrella, and me alone under the other, we exited the station.

"Uhhh, Miss Izumi, may I ask a question?"

"What is it, Ming?"

"...where exactly are we going?"

"To the local inn," Izumi replied. "We'll check in and get rooms there, and then we'll walk around."

"This weather might not be too good for your health," Sig pointed out.

"Oh, honey, don't worry about me. Just being with you gives me strength."

"But you still have to take care of yourself...we made a promise, remember?"

"Dearest...!!" They embraced.

Meanwhile, I stood in the background, sweatdropping. _I don't think I'll ever get used to this._

"The heaviest rainfall in sixty years!"

"We have to help them out! The river could burst its banks at any time!"

"Hurry!"

A couple men went straight past us, shouting to each other as they ran. One accidentally pushed me and I stumbled.

"Sounds like something bad's going on," I noted. "Maybe we should--"

I spoke too late. Izumi was already speed-walking in the direction the men had been going. I sweatdropped. "Wait, Miss Izumi! Where're you going?"

"To the river, where else?" she called back without turning around. "You come along, too! Hurry up!"

"But wait--what about--hang on just a second!" I ran after her, grimacing as mud and water stained my shoes. "Ah, crap, I should've worn boots today. Miss Izumi! The rain--what about your health? You're going to make yourself sick like this! Wait up, Miss Izumi! At least take my umbrella!"

As a matter of fact, she didn't. I groaned as I followed her. "Dammit, I hate when this happens..."

Just like that, with her _walking_ at top speed and me stumbling after her, we made it to the river where more people were shouting.

"We're not gonna make it! The water's overflowing!"

"Let's get out of here!"

"The river's about to burst its banks!"

"Get to higher ground, now!"

Completely ignoring the ruckus all around her, Izumi stepped down the stairs and into the water. For a moment, the people around her simply stared. Then,

"Hey--you..." one of the men began. She stopped in front of the sandbags and clapped her hands.

"It's dangerous, you better leave."

"That's my line!" the man half-shouted. "The river's gonna flood..." She slammed her hands to the ground. "...soon..."

And a ten-foot barrier shot up from the ground. I groaned and ran down the steps, closely followed by Sig. "Miss Izumi, you shouldn't push yourself like this!"

"You worry too much, Ming--there, that should hold for a while," she said. She stood up as Sig held his umbrella over her head and pointed at the men who were standing around gaping at her. "You men better reinforce that wall!"

"Uh...yeah! She's right!"

"And sorry for making the ground sink."

A black-haired man patted the wall as if not sure whether or not it was solid. "I can't believe it...in a matter of seconds, she..."

"Who are you?" another man questioned.

Izumi smiled at him. "As you can see--"

"--a normal housewife!" I recited. She glared at me and rapped me over the head, making me wince. "What? It's what you always say, isn't it--ah crap."

Blood gushed out of her mouth.

For a moment, everyone else stared. Then,

"Ahh!! Some...somebody get a stretcher!"

"Doctor, doctor!!"

"I'm guessing this would be the most opportune moment to say 'I told you so'?"

"Izumi..."

* * *

A little while later, Izumi, Sig, me, and most of Resembool were gathered together in someone's room (I had no clue whose it was, but we weren't at the inn, that was for sure). Izumi sat in the bed, looking slightly pale but otherwise better than before. At least she wasn't coughing up blood. Me and Sig (yes I _know_ it's "Sig and I," _shut up_) stood to her left, while everyone else was gathered on her right.

"It's a good thing Mr. Sig had your medicine with him," I commented blandly, yawning. "I _did_ say you should take my umbrella, you know."

Izumi glared at me. "If I'm the adult here, why does it sound like _you're_ the one coddling _me?_" she demanded.

I shrugged. "Prob'ly because you're the one who needs coddling at the moment?" She whacked me over the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Show more respect to your elders!"

"Well, it's true. In case you forgot, you were coughing up _blood_ like ten minutes ago."

"Honey had my medicine with him--where's the harm?"

"Yeah, well, at this rate you're gonna run out before we get back to Dublith."

"I see! So you three are tourists from the west!" someone interrupted our banter, making us both turn to him.

"That's right," Izumi was the one to reply. "We just happened to pass by and help you out."

"We're in your debt!" a man with blonde hair grinned. "That was some incredible alchemy!"

"Oh! Are you a state alchemist, by any chance?" the man next to him asked. I noticed Izumi tense slightly before relaxing again, knowing that he had just made an honest mistake.

"No, I'm just Izumi Curtis, a butcher's wife," she smiled and pointed at Sig, who stood there looking imposing, "this is my husband," then she nodded at me, "and this is Ming."

I sweatdropped at the curious gazes that were directed at me. "Uhhh...hi?"

"So you're from Dublith?"

"Yups."

"Wow!"

Suddenly, there was a small commotion as two people pushed their way to the front. "_**OLD LADY!**_ PLEASE MAKE US YOUR APPRENTICES!!"

Izumi's eye twitched slightly and I sweatdropped. Moments later, the bed was flipped over onto the two unfortunate perpetrators; she cracked her knuckles threateningly while veins twitched in several places. "Who are you calling _old lady?_ I couldn't hear you! I _dare_ you to say it again!"

Everyone around us backed away a little. I grinned at them sheepishly. "Ahahaha, sorry, she just...er..._hates _being called old." _(And has violent tendencies...)_

The two boys hastily corrected their mistake, sweating. "U-uh, b-big sister! P-Please make us your apprentices!!"

Gold hair and gold eyes seemed to glow in my vision as I found myself looking at Edward and Alphonse Elric for the first time.

They were both about my height, which made sense seeing as I was only a year younger than Ed. Both of them had short, clean-cut hair, though Ed's was longer than Al's and stuck out slightly awkwardly. They were both in T-shirts and sensible pants, like I was. A stranger would be hard-pressed to tell which was the older or younger brother--they looked about the same age.

At the moment there was nothing particularly special or outstanding about them, but just staring at them both gave me an inexplicable sense of relief.

"Hey!" An old lady with her hair in a gravity-defying bun pushed her way to the front next to the Elrics. Pinako Rockbell. "What's with this all of a sudden, you two--"

The two of them completely ignored her. All their attention was trained on Izumi.

"We know a bit of alchemy, too," Al began.

"We want to learn more!" Ed finished. Izumi raised an eyebrow and there was a momentary silence in which both Elrics waited for her answer. Then she closed her eyes, let out a little sigh and said...

"_No way!_"

"Why?!" they exclaimed together. She put her hands on her hips.

"I don't need an apprentice, and I'm returning to Dublith."

"..." Ed and Al looked at each other.

Then they proceeded to grab hold of her arm and leg, respectively. "TAKE US BACK WITH YOU! PLEASE ACCEPT US AS YOUR APPRENTICES!!"

"HEY...LET GO!!" Izumi yelled, trying to shake them off. "Why do you two want to learn alchemy so badly, anyway?!"

That made them flinch. Al turned to Ed nervously. "Ah...that is..."

"--be...because we want to make life better for people!" Edward said hurriedly.

_The little liar..._ I studied them and looked at Izumi. "Come on, Miss Izumi, why not?"

"What?" she, Ed, and Al said in unison.

I grinned. "Well, they seem interesting! Plus, they're determined, and they look like they might actually be able to handle whatever tor...whatever you dish out to them, right? And I'm kinda sick of having to suf...I mean, _studying _by myself all the time. I think it would be fun to be able to do stuff with other people, too."

"You're her apprentice already?" Al ventured, suddenly looking disappointed. I sweatdropped.

"Um, not really. You don't have to worry, Miss Izumi can take you guys on, right, Miss Izumi?" I turned to her again. She narrowed her eyes, but I knew she was half-convinced.

"...do your parents approve?"

Ed and Al looked down; Pinako hastily held up a hand. "Miss Izumi, I'm their guardian--these two are orphans."

That made Izumi stop and think for a second. "...oh..." She looked at Ed and Al, who stared back at her with stubborn determination.

Stare.

Stare.

Stare.

She glanced at me; I grinned.

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Looks like I have no choice..." She sighed again, then knelt down and put a hand on each boy's shoulder. "One month! We'll have a one-month trial, and then I'll decide whether to accept you both! You two have to show me your intelligence and skill--show me that I can teach you. I'm not going to waste my time teaching two kids who can't learn."

"What if they can't make it?" Pinako asked.

"They'll come back to Resembool right away," was Izumi's immediate answer. Al blinked, realization dawning on his face.

"But...if we _do _make it, then..."

"Then I'll officially be training you both. Got it?"

"..." Ed and Al glanced at each other before turning to Pinako. "Granny!" Ed grinned. "We won't be back after a month!"

Pinako sighed, while Winry (who had randomly appeared next to her sometime during our conversation) looked furious. "I knew you were going to say that!"

"Awesome!" That made them all turn to look at me. I kept grinning. "What? I'm happy to make new friends, that's all!" _Actually, I'm also high because the plot is finally moving, but they don't need to know that._ "So, anyway, I'm Ming. What're your names?"

"I'm Edward Elric," Ed was the first to answer. "This is my little brother, Alphonse."

"So if you're not Teacher's apprentice--" _Already calling her Teacher, huh?_ "--then why are you living with her?" Alphonse asked curiously. I blinked.

"Um, well, it's a really long story," I said. "You guys probably wouldn't be interested. So, what about you?" I turned to Winry. "What's your name?"

She looked surprised at being acknowledged, but answered. "Winry Rockbell." She hesitated, then said, "Is Miss Izumi a good teacher?"

I noticed that the Elrics seemed to be interested in my answer. _Hmmm...should I tell them that she's a violent maniac who tortures and beats up little kids?_ I paused. _Nahhh...let them figure it out for themselves._ I smiled. "You know, you two lucked out," I said to Ed and Al. "If you're looking for someone to teach you more about alchemy, Miss Izumi's probably one of the best." _Although her teaching _methods_ are a little unorthodox..._

"Really?!" Al said, both he and his brother looking excited.

_Aw, little kids are so cute. _"Yup. But I have to warn you, her training is pretty tough," I began. Ed scoffed.

"We can handle it, no problem!"

_No, no, Ed, I'm not saying you _can't. _I'm just saying you'll probably be traumatized by the time you're done._

_

* * *

_

**_A day later..._**

"Huh, I haven't been on this island for a while," I said out loud, staring at the forest. "Somehow it feels like it's gotten smaller."

"Probably because you were only six when you first came here, you've grown," Izumi said with a laugh, patting me on the head. "I still remember that picnic. Didn't you try to go swimming and almost drown?"

"That was just because I hadn't gone swimming in...a long time and I forgot how for a few minutes," I grumbled. "And it was a one-time thing!"

Ed and Al were gaping at their surroundings.

"Whoa...it's the wild kingdom..." I sweatdropped. _The wild kingdom? What's that?_

"Oh, that's right." Izumi took something out of our boat and tossed it to Ed and Al. "Here, hold this!" Ed slipped open the cover and stared at the knife inside, sweatdropping. "This is a no man's island."

"Oh," Al said, not really getting what she was saying. She smiled.

"There's no electricity, no wells, and no houses. And there are wild beasts everywhere." She held up a finger.

"Dun dun dun DUN!" They all stared at me. I shrugged. "Sorry, I thought it was about time I chimed in with something..."

Izumi coughed. "Anyway, you two have to stay alive on this island, _for one month!_" She paused. "Oh, and you aren't allowed to use alchemy during this period of time, so no cheating!"

Ed and Al gaped at her. "Wha...wha...**_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!!_**"

Izumi started walking back to the boat. "I'll come back for you boys when your month is up."

"Hey, wait!!" She stopped and turned.

"**_'One is all, all is one.'_**" They stared at her, not comprehending. "If you can't tell me what it means in a month, I'll send you two back home! Bye!" She waved.

"Wait, wait, wait!!" Ed yelled. "Ming!! What is this--"

I grinned at him, holding up two fingers in a victory sign. "See you in a month, Ed and Al! Don't get killed!"

Their jaws dropped as they watched our boat sail away. _Aren't I encouraging?_

_

* * *

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**The authoress dislikes writing parts of stories which are basically taken from the actual series, because her OCs always end up playing minor roles in the dialogue and/or action, but it can't be helped. The authoress is also going to attempt to add more humor to the story from now on. Wish her luck.**

**Reviews?**


	9. Chapter 7: Sweet Berceuse

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Seven_

_Sweet Berceuse_

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* * *

"I wonder if they're okay."

Sig paused in his mopping; Izumi gave me a glance, then turned back to sharpening her knife. "Who, Edward and Alphonse? I'm sure they're fine. People say that knowledge is best acquired from experience--that's why training the body and mind is the best way to build a good, solid foundation when learning alchemy."

I frowned as I stared at the transmutation circle around the broken pot. _Hmmm...I feel like I did something wrong, but I can't figure out what._ "So how do you think they'll do?"

Izumi snorted, lifting up the knife to check the blade. "If they don't learn anything from this, it means they only have so much talent. I'll probably send them back to Resembool." She paused. "But those two are desperate, so they'll probably pass. Here, it's sharp." At that last sentence she threw the knife at Sig, who caught the blade between two fingers. _Don't try this at home, kids!_

"Thanks," Sig paused. "I'm more worried about their lives, though."

Izumi turned to face him. "Before my training, they left me on Mount Briggs for a month."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't compare yourself to normal people," I muttered under my breath, scratching out the rune I'd drawn wrong. She glared at me and thwacked me over the head.

"What was that?!"

"I said nothing."

"That's what I thought." Another pause. "Anyway, compared to my assessment, theirs is easy."

Sig glanced at her. "Still, they are pretty young..."

"Don't worry! They won't die!" Izumi grinned. "They won't freeze to death, and there's plenty of food. Plus, there aren't any monsters there that can kill them."

I sweatdropped. "Didn't you send Mason after them?"

Izumi coughed. "That's different. Mason's there to help them make use of this month and learn, he's not going to kill them. Plus, he can keep an eye on them--which is exactly why they're going get through this fine."

"Malnourished, injured, exhausted and traumatized, but otherwise, yes, perfectly fine!" I chirped sarcastically. Izumi smacked me again.

"Don't be cheeky!" As I rubbed my poor abused head, she inspected my circle. "Hmmm...not too shabby. Try using it."

I clapped my hands to the ground. Blue light flashed, smoke appeared, and a new pot that wasn't broken into three pieces sat on the ground. Izumi picked it up and tossed it.

"Pretty solid," she decided. "Alright, you pass. Here you go, honey!" She tossed it over to Sig. "That's good. Even after our trip, you haven't forgotten what you learned."

"Of course not, then you'd make me go through all that torture all over again," I muttered under my breath. Izumi's eye twitched.

"What was that?!"

"I said nothing."

* * *

_Complete darkness surrounded me. I was walking, but I didn't know on what. Everywhere I looked I saw nothing. I couldn't even see myself._

_"Ling?"_

_I'm not sure what compelled me to call his name._

_"Ling? Ling, are you there? Ling!"_

_Find him. I had to find him! Where was he? Was he lost? I started running._

_"Ling?! Ling, if you can hear me, answer me! Ling! I'm here! Ling!!"_

_I tore frantically through the darkness, panic threatening to overwhelm me. Where was he? Where was Ling?! He was just a kid, he couldn't be by himself in a place like this! Where was he?!_

_"Ling!!"_

_"You left me..."_

_I came to an abrupt stop._

_"Ling? Is that you? Ling..."_

_"You left me..."_

_The voice came again, stronger this time. That familiar, childish voice._

_"You left me, Ming...why did you leave me?"_

_"Ling?" I turned around in a full circle, trying to find him, but I still couldn't see. "Ling, is that you? Where are you?!" _

_His voice came from all around me, sorrowful. Resentful. Accusing._

_"You left me. Why did you leave me? You left me alone. You and Mother both..."_

_"No...no, Ling, that's not true. I never left you! Ling, where are you?!"_

_"You left me..."_

_"Ling, answer me!"_

_His voice grew fainter. "You left..."_

_"Ling!"_

_"..."_

_"Ling? Ling, no, answer me!"_

_Silence._

**_"LING!!"_**

**_

* * *

_**

My eyes snapped open and I sat up, panting.

I was sweating. Whether it was from that dream or from the southern heat, I didn't know, but sweat streaked my face. I threw open the covers and got out of bed to open my window; my figners shook as I fumbled with the latch. The thumping of my heart rang in my ears.

That terror, that panic. It had been so real. And that aching loneliness I had both heard in Ling's voice and felt--no, still felt--inside myself threatened to eat away at me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, as the window finally opened and cool air rushed into my room.

"Ling..."

* * *

"Ming."

"..."

"Ming!"

"..."

"MING!!"

I was jolted out of my trance. "Wha?!"

Izumi frowned. "What's wrong with you today? You seem out of it--did you not get enough sleep last night?"

I sweatdropped. "Ehehehe, something like that. Oh, look! We're almost to Jack Island!"

Izumi raised an eyebrow at my rather transparent attempt to change the subject, but sighed and let it go. I gazed out across the blue waters of Lake Kauroy as we neared our destination. _Sorry, Miss Izumi, but that's a part of my life you can't find out about..._

Moments later, we stood on the sandy beach, Izumi looking impeccably cool with crossed arms while I plopped down on the sand, soaking up the warmth as if I were sinking into a hot bath. Ed and Al looked completely battered, as was to be expected. I glanced around...where was Mason?

"It's time," Izumi said firmly. "Tell me what 'one is all, all is one' means."

The two of them sat straight up without any hesitation.

"'All' is the world!" Alphonse.

"'One' is me!" Edward.

The expression on Izumi's face was priceless. I started snickering, and after a while, she and the boat-man joined in. Ed and Al stared at each other, sweatdropping.

"Very well!" Izumi finally said after about ten seconds of laughter, "we'll start the real training now--"

"ALRIGHT!!" Ed and Al did a double high-five excitedly. Izumi coughed.

"Yes...anyway, get on the boat. There are warm beds and food waiting for you back at home--"

"BIG BROTHER!! LIVING IS SO WONDERFUL!!" Alphonse sobbed.

"LITTLE BROTHER!!" Edward wailed. They embraced.

I sweatdropped as Izumi and I settled into the boat. "Right, yeah, okay...so, do you want to leave with us or not?"

They made a mad dash for us and scrambled in, practically bowling me over. The boat started moving; I grinned. "So I take it that the island wasn't any fun?"

They shook their heads furiously. "It was scary!" Al exclaimed. "Getting food and stuff wasn't that hard, but then there was this jungle man! He kept attacking us and trying to take our food and--"

There was a jolt as Mason landed in the boat. Ed and Al froze and turned.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"WHAAAAAAAAA?!!!!!!!!!"

"YOU BASTARD!! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!!"

"Hey, good work."

"Hi! Long time no see."

Silence.

"..._what?!_" Ed and Al stared at Izumi and I blankly.

"He's an employee in Izumi's store," I offered.

"..."

"..."

More blank stares. They turned from us and the "scary island guy" and back again.

Mason removed his scary helmet, revealing who he really was: a terrifyingly buff guy with a never disappearing grin. "Ahahahaha!! I can't believe you guys survived a month!" Still laughing, he shook the brothers' hands enthusiastically. "I'm Mason, nice to meet you! How was my acting? But you know, I had to go easy on you guys when we fought! It was hard to control myself, and boy it scared me to death when you guys almost died--"

Ed and Al sweatdropped as he went on and on, laughing and grinning and talking like absolutely nothing had happened. Al turned to Izumi, unable to say anything in his shock, just pointing to Mason speechlessly.

"I put him there to make sure you guys didn't die," Izumi said bluntly. At that, Al found his voice.

"THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE HIM ATTACK US?!!"

"Fool! One month is too much time to waste!" Ed and Al fell to the ground with gloom lines of despair. "To train the mind, first you must train the body! You were able to train both your mind and body in this month, wasn't it worth it?" She paused. "I'll start teaching you as a proper teacher now, but I warn you, I'm very strict!"

At that, Ed leapt up and grinned confidently. "Heh! Granny, whatever you dish out is going to be a _piece of cake_ compared to what we went through on that island--"

_IZUMI PUNCH!!_

"Ooh...it's a good thing for him that human bodies float," I winced.

"Talk to your teacher with _respect!_" Izumi snapped.

* * *

My eye twitched as I stared blatantly at the two boys, who were stuffing their faces like there was no tomorrow. There was no talk between them whatsoever, just eating, eating, eating with tears streaming down their faces comically. I sweatdropped.

"So...I take it that the island food wasn't very good either?"

They shook their heads violently and kept eating. I watched as the number of empty plates grew...and grew... _So this is how people feel when I eat them out of house and home, huh?_

Izumi was at the store with Sig; she'd told me to watch Ed and Al while they were gone, and make sure they got plenty of food and a long rest in the beds **_I'd_** been forced to prepare for them in the guest room. That was why I was sitting in the chair across from them, waiting for them to finish their first homecooked meal in a month. And that was why I was staring at the dishes, slowly turning blue in the face.

_WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAVE TO WASH THOSE DISHES, YOU IDIOTS?!!_

Finally, after what seemed like days, they finished. Ed leaned back with a satisfied sigh; Al was polite enough to wipe his mouth with a napkin.

"Thanks for the food!"

"I can now die happily..."

I sweatdropped again.

Al looked at me. "Hey, Ming, are you Izumi's daughter?"

"...um." I coughed. "No."

"And you're not her apprentice, either, right?"

Another no.

"So why are you living with her?" Ed said bluntly.

...I'd thought they would know better than to pry like that, but...huh...guess I was wrong.

I shrugged. "Very complicated, very long story, and you probably wouldn't want to hear it."

"That's what you told us last time."

"Because it's the truth."

"Hmmm," Ed narrowed his eyes at me, but the effect was ruined when he yawned widely. I laughed.

"Okay, I guess I'll take you to your room now, or Izumi will kill me for allowing her two new apprentices to die from exhaustion." I got up and walked out of the room; they followed suit.

"Wow!" Al's eyes were wide. "Look at all these books!" He and Ed hurried to the shelves, their weariness momentarily forgotten.

"Hey look, here's the one we always wanted to read!"

"I've never even _heard_ of some of these!" I could swear they both got starry-eyed. I coughed.

"Okay, you guys will have plenty of time to obsess over these tomorrow--" that earned me some protests about not obsessing "--and the day after that and after that and so on and so forth, but for now, _go. to. BED._"

They 'eep'ed at my scary tone.

"Um, Ming?" Al said timidly. "You haven't shown us where our beds are yet..."

I sighed and pointed to the two next to the bookshelves. They went wide-eyed again.

"You mean, we're sleeping..."

"...next to all these books?!"

I sweatdropped for the third time, mentally questioning the wisdom of Izumi's actions. "Right. But try not to stay up late reading, or else you won't be able to handle Izumi's tor--training the next day."

"...you were about to say 'torture,' weren't you."

It wasn't a question; Ed stated it flatly.

I sweatdropped again.

"Well, sortakindanotreally--yes," I said bluntly. They paled; I laughed. "I didn't want to put you guys off, but Izumi's a _super_ hard teacher. That's why she's the best. And she's not afraid to use violence to get her point across, either."

"I know that," Ed muttered, pointing to his bruised cheek from Izumi's punch the other day. I blinked.

"Oh, right. Wait here, I'll get you some ice for that." I hurried to the kitchen and opened the ice box, getting a piece of ice and wrapping it in plastic and a napkin. "Here, catch!"

"Wha?" Ed blinked and the ice hit him on the forehead, knocking him over. "OW!"

"You need faster reflexes than that if you're going to survive Izumi's training from hell!" I laughed, walking over and picking up the ice. Ed scowled as I handed it to him; I could tell his pride was bruised.

"That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was, you're just in too much pain to see the humor in it," I retorted.

"It was kind of funny, brother," Al volunteered. Ed stared at him.

"Al, not you too!!"

"Thank you, Al, thank you. See, Ed, we agree!"

He turned and muttered something under his breath, holding the ice to his cheek. I raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Liar. What did you say?"

"Why do you care?"

"Brother!"

"I care because it might have been something that concerns me."

"So what if it was?"

"Aha. Busted."

"Wait what?"

"Brother, you shouldn't say things about other people."

"Stop ganging up on me!"

I coughed, noticing the time. "Right, I shouldn't be hanging with you guys like this, so I'll just leave and...you guys can go to bed. BUT," I glared at them both. "I _don't_ want you reading under the covers or something, al_right?_"

They flinched, exchanging guilty looks. I pointed at them accusingly. "So you _were_ planning to!"

Sweatdrops all around.

"I promise we won't," Al offered.

"Good boy, you get a cookie. Tomorrow, though, because you need your rest today," I added. "So...um."

Oh.

Wait.

"One more thing!" I said quickly. The two of them looked at me.

"What is it _now?!_" Ed demanded irately.

Should I really say this?

"I..." I fumbled, searching for the right words. "Look, I know what you guys have been going through, but..."

That drew me confused looks.

I sighed.

"Never mind, good night."

And I left.

_What should I do?_ I wondered as I walked down the hallway. _Should I tell them not to do human transmutation and about the bad things that can happen? But then if that happens, there's no guarantee they'll meet up with the homunculi, and then it's possible that Amestris will be doomed...but it's sad how they'll have to go through so much pain._

_Crap._

_What should I do?_

"What should I do...?" I stopped as I entered the dining room and was faced with the mountain of plates and bowls once again.

Izumi raised an eyebrow at me.

"How about starting with these dishes?"

* * *

**The authoress apologizes for updating so, so late. It's summer and she should have lots of time, but her parents signed her up for a bunch of weird, pointless classes so she's been struggling with this. Also, she just recovered from a case of writer's block.**

**The authoress hopes this chapter didn't suck as much as she thinks it did.**

**And she asks for reviews. Oh, and about the question above that Ming is pondering...**

**What should she do? The authoress wants to hear your opinions. (Although she has a plan as to how she's going to write this already, she thinks it would be interesting to hear what you have to say on this matter.)  
**

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	10. Chapter 8: Fatal Allemande

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter 9_

_Fatal Allemande_

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**_Six months later..._**

"I can't wait to go back to Resembool," Al said happily as he loaded his plate with food. "I bet everyone's going to be really surprised when they see how good we are now, big brother!"

"Yeah," Ed grinned, speaking around a mouthful of potatoes. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."

"Make sure to come back and visit!" Mason said.

"Don't get too cocky, you still have a lot to learn," Izumi added. Ed and Al groaned.

"We knooooow!"

She rapped them both on the head. "Speak to your teacher with respect! Maybe I should keep you both here for a couple more months!"

This brought looks of horror to their faces; Mason laughed. The tiniest hint of a smile tugged at the ends of Sig's mouth.

"What's the matter, kid?" Mason spoke to me. "You're being pretty quiet."

I shrugged as they all turned to look at me. "Eh, nothing much."

Six months had gone by faster than I thought possible. I had gotten to know Ed and Al so well they felt like my own brothers (it was unavoidable since we were living in the same house), and now they were going to leave. Well, that didn't bother me too much--I knew I would see them again eventually. What bothered me was what would _happen_ after they left.

Human transmutation.

The military.

Homunculi.

....meeting Ling.

Ling. I'd never stopped missing him, but now I'd found a new (dysfunctional) family in Amestris. I wanted to see Ling so freaking badly it was almost unbearable, but on nights like this, with Izumi and Sig and Mason and Ed and Al, all of us sitting around the same table, eating together and laughing together, as sappy as it sounds, I couldn't bring myself to leave.

What was I supposed to do?

"Stop acting tough and just admit it," Izumi said, her tone scoffing but her expression soft. "You're going to miss Ed and Al, aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, of course I'll miss the annoying people who steal my books--"

"Hey, Teacher said we could!" Ed protested.

"--and keep me up all night--"

"We weren't doing it on purpose," Al said apologetically.

"--and throw temper tantrums when I call them sho--"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET?!!"

"--and are unable to believe I'm smarter than they are--"

"..."

"--and insult my cooking--"

"You almost _poisoned_ me that one time," Ed muttered under his breath.

"--and keep interrupting me when I'm talking," I finished pointedly. Al sweatdropped. Mason and Izumi laughed.

The chatter started up again after that, with huge grins all around.

I studied Ed and Al's happy faces and made a split-second decision.

---

My hand was poised in front of the door; it hovered there hesitantly before I took a deep breath, reminding myself that this was for the best.

I knocked.

There was some scrambling, a lot of muffled panicking, and the sound of someone stubbing their toe and cursing. Then, at last, came Ed's voice: "Come in!"

I opened the door. Ed and Al stood innocently, their suitcases lying open around them with clothes spilling out. "Doing some last-minute packing, huh?"

Al coughed. "Um...yes. What is it?"

_Dare I?_

I knew the answer to that.

This was surely breaking my beloved laws of physics somehow, but I had to. For their sakes.

Now how would I go about it without being completely insensitive?

"...look," I said at last, meeting their identical golden stares. "Alchemy can do a lot of things. But it's not a universal art. Alchemy can't do everything."

They exchanged confused glances. "What are you getting at?" Ed said.

I shifted. "Uh..." There really was no tactful way to say this, was there? I sighed and drew up my resolve. "You guys, don't try to bring your mother back to life."

Complete shock flitted over both their faces.

"Wha--" Ed started.

"How did you know?" Al whispered.

"It was a guess and the two of you just confirmed it," I lied, making them both facefault. "But that's not the point."

Silence.

"Are you...are you going to tell Master?" Al said in a trembling voice. I looked at them both.

"No. And that's not the point either. You can't do this."

"You can't tell us what to do, either," Ed said at once, his face taking on a stubborn look. "We _can._ We've learned a lot from Master, we've been doing research, it's just a matter of time!" His voice took on a desperate edge that made me suspect he was trying to convince himself, not just me.

"Even if you finish your research, it's not going to work," I said flatly. "Human transmutation is forbidden for a reason."

"Because the grownups don't want to admit they don't know how to do it!"

"That's not the reason!" I snapped. Sometimes I forgot that the two of them were just kids with simple reasoning.

"Yeah? Alchemy is equivalent exchange, isn't it?! As long as we have the exchange, we can do it!"

"Alchemy isn't universal, idiot! It's not like magic, there are rules and you have to follow them!"

"We _are_ following the rules!"

Al watched the two of us, uncertainty on his face. Then he spoke. "Ming, how do you know it won't work?"

Pause.

"Did..." he ventured. "Did you try human transmutation before?"

Silence.

Ed scoffed. "You're kidding, right? If it's taken us this long, there's no way _she_ could do it."

My eye twitched at the insult to my intelligence, but I let it slide. "Look, you--it doesn't matter how I know, I'm just trying to help you. If you don't believe me, then how about this: Izumi's told you again and again that you should never bring a human back to life! She's older and more experienced and obviously knows better than you do, right?"

There was another pause as Ed and Al glanced at each other. I took a deep breath and exhaled, glad to see that they were starting to listen to reason. (Well, mainly Ed. Al was always the less stubborn of the two.)

"I know you guys just want to see your mom again," I said more gently. "But there are some things that alchemy just can't do."

Silence.

"Al's right," Ed said at last. "How do you know this stuff for sure?"

"Big brother--" Al began, as I racked my brain for a lie.

"I've been with Izumi longer than you have," was what I settled for.

Ed studied me. He was just a kid, yes, but his gaze was sharp. "There's something you're not telling us. What is it?" he demanded. "You're hiding something! You've always been hiding something!"

I choked. _I didn't think they'd noticed!_ "That's--"

"And anyway, why should we believe you?" he went on. "How do we know Master isn't just another one of those grownups who makes up a rule just because they don't know how to do things?"

"Ed--"

"Ming, how do you know it won't work?" Al said again. "Did you try it before?"

"I--"

"Al, think about it, there's no way," Ed said. His tone grew scathing as he crossed his arms. "She's a good girl who listens to Master, right? And anyway, who would she want to bring back to life, her dead cat?"

"Big brother!"

_Take a deep breath, count to ten. No, better make that fifteen. Do not scream, do not punch him in the face. Speak to him calmly and rationally. He's just a little kid who doesn't know any better--_

"She has a family, Al! She doesn't need to do human transmutation! She doesn't know what it's like to lose someone!"

All rational thinking flew out the window. I glared at him as Al made a little squeaking noise.

"You, my dear Edward," I said in a deceptively calm voice, "are an ungrateful, stubborn brat. I am attempting to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life, and all you do is insult me. You think I don't know what it's like to lose someone. Fine. Go on assuming that." My temper came to a boil. "But if you ignore what I say and try human transmutation, you're going to end up losing something again! You're going to end up with something you can't fix! _SO START ACTING YOUR AGE AND LISTEN TO ME, YOU--_" here I inserted a string of Xingese cusswords and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

_They're just kids. I know that._

_But here I am, ready to break the laws of physics and interfere with fate and all that just for those two brats, and they fucking don't believe me?_

_**"She has a family, Al! She doesn't know what it's like to lose someone!"**_

I didn't sleep that night.

In the morning, I stayed in bed and listened as Izumi called for me to see Ed and Al off for the sixth time, gave up, and left the house with everyone else. Then I closed my eyes, feeling the Elric brothers' auras disappear from my senses for the first time in six months.

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**_..._**

**_"I am most disappointed in you. It has been four years since the Yao girl slipped from our grasp."_**

**_"I-I apologize, sir."_**

**_"Has there been no news?"_**

**_"N-No, sir." A pause. "S-Sir...is the Yao girl really this important to your plans?"_**

**_Silence._**

**_"Are you questioning my orders?"_**

**_"N-No, sir, a-absolutely not! Of course not!!"_**

**_"That's what I thought." A cruel smile. "But, to answer your question, yes..._ most _important." Pause._**

**_"Sir?"_**

**_"Where have we searched?"_**

**_"All through Xing and in the East Amestrian area, sir. She could be hiding in the desert but--"_**

**_"Amestris."_**

**_"Sir?"_**

**_"Search through Amestris. We cannot do much there, I'm afraid, but it would seem there are no other possibilities. And if she is far enough away from Central..."_**

**_"What was that, sir?"_**

**_"Nothing. Nothing. Order your men to commence a search through Amestris. Be inconspicuous and do nothing to arouse suspicion."_**

**_"Yes, sir."_**

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I sneezed. Damn, was I coming down with a cold? I rubbed my nose, sniffling slightly. Wonderful. Sickness seemed to have great timing.

Ed and Al were long gone, and now that my temper had cooled down, guilt was eating away at me. I couldn't warn them, and I had yelled at them on top of that. They were just kids, kids who had gone through pain that no one should have to experience, kids who were trying to overlook the truth because all they wanted was to see their mom smile again. I'd forgotten that and lost my temper with them the way I would have with a boy my age--that was, my _original_ age. It wasn't their fault, it was mine.

But still, the fact that they hadn't believed me smarted. I had thought they'd trusted me more than that. And while thinking through the whole thing before my attempt, I had always worried about whether or not to tell them, not whether or not they would believe me. Hubris: thinking you can change the world--a hero(ine)'s fatal flaw. **(1)**

"Ming, did something happen with Ed and Al?" Izumi had asked me. "You didn't see them off, and they were acting a little odd."

"I wasn't feeling good, that's all," I had said casually. "Maybe they were just sad about leaving."

She hadn't looked convinced. My conscience wasn't either.

Finally, I resolved to call them, even though I wasn't sure how they would take it. I didn't know if it was a good decision for me to try a second time, but they had to be warned.

"Ed!" Pinako called. "There's someone on the phone for you!" There was some scuffling, and then Ed's voice came through.

"Who's this?"

"Ming."

There was a long pause.

"What is it?" he finally said. "Does Master want something?"

I swallowed. "No. I just wanted to, um, say sorry for yelling at you and Al like that--"

"Okay. Is that it?"

"..." He sounded abrupt. Was he still mad at me? "Ed, about _that_--"

"Great, bye." I was left listening to the dial tone.

So they were going to go through with it no matter what, and now Ed apparently held a childish hatred against me. Excellent, really excellent.

**_"She doesn't know what it's like to lose someone!"_**

And it would be really, really insensitive to say "I told you so" the next time I saw them, wouldn't it?

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**NO, THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD.**

**THE AUTHORESS IS SO, SO SORRY SHE HASN'T UPDATED IN MONTHS AND MONTHS AND SHE KNOWS SHE CAN'T MAKE UP FOR IT BUT WRITER'S BLOCK CAME TO BITE HER IN THE ASS AND THEN SHE GOT HOOKED ON KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN! AND--**

**The authoress will stop panicking now. Yes.**

**Anyways. The authoress apologizes for the badly written parts in this chapter, as she suddenly got an influx of plot bunnies and couldn't write them down all at once without messing things up.**

**And she promises that she'll be updating very, very soon. SHE SWEARS ON EDWARD.**


	11. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Author's Note**

**_THE AUTHORESS IS SO, SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. AND FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO UPDATE._**

**The authoress got caught sneaking onto the computer by her parents and is currently on a computer ban. (In case you're wondering, this note was typed up in the space of five minutes when the authoress was supposed to be doing her homework.) She probably won't be able to update for a while longer, but PLEASE BE PATIENT.**

**The authoress is eternally grateful and sorry to those of her readers who have been waiting so patiently for an update.**

**And yes, she is aware that she broke her vow on Edward. SORRY, EDWARD. =wail=**


	12. Chapter 9: Farewell Intermezzo: Andante

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Nine_

_Farewell Intermezzo: Andante_

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The flames. They were everywhere, eating away at everything in their path with never-sated ravenous appetite, like creatures born of hell. The smoke stung my eyes and the air rippled with the intense heat, making it almost impossible to see anything.

"Ming!" That was Izumi's voice--desperate and interrupted by bouts of thick, bloody coughing. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away, but I could sense that she was nearby. Her aura pulsed with distress and fury. "Ming, are you alright?! Answer me!"

I wanted to, but I knew that as soon as I opened my mouth my lungs would fill with smoke. Above us, there was a loud crackling sound as the fire burned away at the edges of a ceiling beam and the wood began to shake and fall. One wrong move and we would both be crushed.

_Dammit! How could this have happened?!_

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**Several hours before...**

"Ming!"

I blinked and was kicked out of the air by Izumi's foot. I fell to the ground with a loud thump, wincing--my chest felt like I had been hit by a tractor. Izumi stood above me, her black eyes narrowed in a glare.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, stomping on my foot. I bit back a squeak of pain. "I didn't teach you for five years so you could be defeated so easily! How many times have I told you to keep your mind focused?!"

"Sorry," I muttered. The apology felt fake, even to me, and I grimaced.

"I don't know what's wrong with you lately," Izumi was saying as I contemplated this. "You've been making elementary mistakes. I thought I taught you better than this!" Her tone was harsh, but there was no edge to it. She knew something had been wrong, obviously, but she didn't know what it was, and she didn't know how to help me, either. In fact, there was a lot she didn't know about me...but she had still put up with all this without complaining. I was reminded of that with a twinge of guilt.

"Sorry," I said again, this time relatively sincere. "There's just been a lot on my mind lately."

She looked taken aback by my honesty, and for a moment we just stood there in silence.

She sighed. "Is this something to do with Ed and Al?" She held up a hand when I opened my mouth to protest. "You can't fool me, Ming. I know you too well. You've been acting all mopey since they left--"

"I have not!"

"--and acting like this isn't like you," she said firmly. " It's been almost two months since they left. You need to get a grip on yourself."

"I--" For some reason, the blunt way she put it infuriated me, but I managed to bite my tongue before I said anything. This was still Izumi, after all. I had no doubts that she would slam me to the ground again if I did or said anything disrespectful.

"Class is over," she said. "Go to town or something. Think things through on your own time instead of wasting mine."

I winced from her not-so-subtle jab and opened my mouth to retort, but she turned and walked out of the room. I had no choice but to follow her and then head out the door.

It was a pretty good day. The sun was shining, but it was pretty close to winter, so it wasn't too hot out.

I needed to think things through, Izumi had said.

"What does she think I've been doing these past two months?" I muttered under my breath, kicking a rock out of my way.

It was true that I hadn't exactly been focused lately, but who could blame me? Ed and Al were gone, with Ed now holding a possibly permanent grudge against me, and there was nothing left to take my mind off Ling. Half the time I contemplated leaving Dublith--I was sure that Izumi would understand. But then I would take a look at the newspapers, which were filled with the latest military conquests and Bradley's name.

Wrath's name.

How could I just leave behind a country like this, especially when I knew what was going to happen? I was the _only _one who knew what was going to happen--surely that left me with a at least some responsibility? I couldn't help but feel like if I went back to Xing, I would be betraying all the people here in Amestris who desperately needed someone to save them, even if they didn't know it yet.

Not that I saw myself as a Messiah or anything. I wasn't particularly self-righteous, either. I just had way too strong of a conscience.

And yes, it was selfish of me, but I admitted that I wanted in on some of the action. I mean, come on! Kicking Envy's hermaphroditic palm tree butt? Jamming Bradley's two swords up his wrinkled old ass? Who would pass up that chance?

"Ming!" I looked up and spotted a kid I vaguely recognized running towards me. I couldn't even remember his name--it had been forever since I last saw him--but I knew he was about five years younger than me, and his dad ran a book shop. "Can you come play with me?"

His grin was friendly enough, and I really shouldn't have taken out my anger on him, but I was in a bad mood. "No."

"Oh," he faltered slightly, but came back strong. I would give him that much. "When are Ed and Al coming back?"

"Never."

That seemed to shake him, and he stopped following me.

It hadn't been very nice of me, but hey, who said I was nice? And besides, it wasn't like I didn't care about those two idiots, either. I had actually called the Rockbells about three times after that last failed phone call, trying to get to Ed, but each time he had either not been there or hung up on me. I had no doubt that he and Al were still working on human transmutation, and were probably not looking for people to tell them they would fail.

It pissed me off.

Just because _they_ were--okay, Ed was thickheaded and stubborn enough to ignore people, did that mean that those people didn't have something actually intelligent to say?

And did that mean he had to hate them for eternity for standing in his way?

Apparently, yes.

And the more I thought about it, the more it felt like Izumi and I had just had a fight, even though I'd barely said anything. Great. Just great. Dinner that night was certainly going to be awkward.

I had been walking for about half an hour now, and without even realizing it I had ended up in front of the bookshop. It was one of my favorite places in Dublith. In a town this big, it was impossible for the bookshop not to be relatively large, too--and though this bookshop was severely lacking in alchemy texts, it did had a very interesting history section. I had always been big on history, and Amestris's was particularly interesting. The counter guy always let me stay inside and read, which was even better, because Dublith's library didn't have that many recent texts.

"Ah, Ming!" the counter guy grinned at me. "Did Izumi give you a day off?"

"Sort of," I said.

"Great. Remember, we close up at nine." I never stayed for that long anyway, so it hardly mattered.

Usually I went straight to the history section, but reading about battles and wars and military regime sometimes got depressing, so I decided to head to the fiction section near the window, even though it wasn't particularly interesting. Usually, the fiction books were either disgusting, sappy romances meant for grandmothers and high school girls or hero tales geared towards guys. Nevertheless, I badly needed something to take my mind off the world and took the risk.

I was thumbing through a book that reminded me of something I'd read back when I was ali--back before I crossed the Gate--the _Princess Journals_ or something, when I saw him. Or, rather, felt him.

A presence that was irrevocably familiar.

That murderous aura. The last thing I had felt before being taken away from home. A feeling associated with murder, and a coal mining town burning up in flames.

I had frozen almost completely, but I managed to continue to flip the pages, in case I was being watched. Very, very carefully and casually, I glanced up from the book. _Please tell me I'm being paranoid..._

But I wasn't. Because walking only about several feet away from the bookstore was the man who had kidnapped me back in Xing.

He was dressed differently, in casual Amestrian gear, but I still recognized him, partially by his aura and partially by his body. He was older, too, obviously, so there were some differences--but his nose was crooked from the time I had broken it.

If I moved, I had no doubt he would see me. I could only turn my face slightly and continue thumbing through the book.

Then his presence stopped moving.

I almost stopped breathing.

Two seconds passed. Three seconds...five seconds... I, the atheist, the alchemist, found myself praying.

He walked on, and I let out a huge sigh of relief when I looked up and found I could no longer see him. Then I set down the book as fast as I could.

"Do you have a back entrance?"

The guy at the counter frowned. "Yeah, we do. It's over there, but why do you..." He trailed off as I jumped over the counter and hurried through "Employees Only" door to the way he had pointed. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! That's employees only!" As if I couldn't read. "Get back here!"

"Shut up, I'm in a hurry," I said, not daring to yell back in case it attracted attention. Then I ran.

Over the years, I had almost forgotten about _them_, the ones who were responsible for all my messes in the first place. Now I would have to face the consequences--but I was not allowed the privilege of panicking like a normal person. No, instead, I had to think as I slowed down to a walk, desperately reaching out with my senses to figure out if there were any more of them around me. My black hair and eyes weren't necessarily uncommon in Dublith, as proven by Izumi, Sig, Mason, and several of our neighbors. As long as I acted inconspicuous, I was pretty sure they wouldn't recognize--

"Hey, Ming!"

...and that plan was pretty much thrown out the window.

It was that annoying little brat from before, the one whose name I couldn't remember. He waved at me, evidently having gotten over my brusqueness from before. "Where're you going, Ming?"

I wanted to kill him right then and there. As it was, I tried to send him signals to shut up, but not only did he refuse to stop talking, he also refused to stop using my name.

"Ming, Izumi was looking for you earlier! She said...oh yeah, she said Ming needed to go home for dinner! You help with dinner, right Ming? You're so lucky, Ming, you get to stay out this late--"

My only hope was to keep walking and hope no one noticed that I was the one he was talking to.

"Ming? Where're you going, Ming? Are you still mad? I didn't mean to make you mad, Ming--"

I was sending out so many _keep-going-and-you-die_ signals now he was either a complete idiot or doing this on purpose. I was contemplating roasting him on a spit, but before I could act on impulse, I felt them closing in on me.

For one moment, I was frozen with indecision.

The next, I ran, every cuss word I could think of in Amestrian and Xingese repeating in my mind.

**_They found me!_**

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**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**YES. THE AUTHORESS HAS FINALLY UPDATED. AFTER LIKE, A GAZILLION MONTHS. THE AUTHORESS APOLOGIZES.**

**Because it is currently winter break, the authoress was able to update. She will try to update regularly from now on, but it will probably still be difficult...the authoress will try her best. She can promise that much.**

**The authoress thanks each and every one of the faithful readers who reviewed, favorited, or put SINHEART on story alert. She does not deserve you all and loves you with all the love left over from her Edward obsession.**


	13. Chapter 10: FI: Con Fuoco

**S I N . H E A R T**

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_Chapter Ten_

_Farewell Intermezzo: Con Fuoco_

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**_They found me they found me they found meOHSHIT--_**

"What the--what do you think you're doing, you stupid girl?!" a man barked at me after I crashed into him.

"Shut up and go buy yourself a brain!" was my apology.

"What was that?! Why you little--get back here!"

"Tell that to someone who gives a crap!"

I threw caution to the wind. People stared at me as I ran past them, and I could only imagine what they were thinking. Some people shouted at me. I could just see tomorrow's headlines--_Mentally Disturbed Girl Runs Through Dublith Cussing At the Top of Her Lungs._

But all that was second priority at the moment. What mattered was there were five to six very Xingese, very murderous auras closing in on me, and unless I could magically grow gills and jump into the lake until this was all over, I was in extremely deep shit. I had no idea where I was running to. The safest thing to do would probably be to jump on a train before the people chasing me pulled another Youswell--but it was too late. My feet were already taking me to Izumi's, and if I changed direction now I would crash right into one of my pursuers, which would definitely not be a very fun experience for either of us.

For a moment, an image flashed in front of me: a man covered all in black, except for the crimson stains slowly spreading across his body, and an equally bloody knife laying beside him. The glowing of flames.

_Screaming._

My steps faltered.

Then I shook my head to clear it. "This isn't Youswell," I said out loud as I ran faster. "That was five years ago, this is now. No one's going to die this time. No one's going to..." I trailed off. "...no...one..."

_Blood, and the glowing of flames, and screaming._

A house was burning.

"No one's going to die this time," I whispered, only this time it sounded more like a prayer than an assurance.

I slowed to a stop even as the roaring began in my ears, the heat hit me full-blast, and the orange light hurt my eyes.

I couldn't breathe. All I could do was stare as the flames licked away at the sign that had grown so familiar, the sign that was now, for me, a landmark of home: _BUTCHER'S._

"No one..."

Even in my daze, I could see a dark figure on the roof out of the corner of my eye. But right after I caught sight of it, it disappeared. And then there was a scream, a scream so familiar it felt as if someone had taken me and torn me in half with their bare hands. A scream that was broken off too soon, like it had been interrupted by coughing. And then there was a flash of blue light, a desperate call for help, and the burning building shook with the effort of containing and entombing its owner.

_No one's going to die this time._

And the next scream was my own.

**_"IZUMI!!"_**

I snapped out of my trance and lost all sanity. I practically threw myself forward through the door that was now barely on its hinges, ignoring the burning and the sharp pain that came along with meeting the fire. I opened my mouth to call for Izumi and my lungs filled with smoke--I could barely manage a small, rasping whisper before I started coughing.

"Izumi..."

I staggered forward. I had heard her in there somewhere, I was sure of it. That scream couldn't _not_ have been hers. No one was that good at impersonating people besides Envy, and I highly doubted that Envy was in that building with me at that moment.

"Izumi!" I rasped again, desperately looking through the doors, trying to see through the blinding smoke. "Izumi--" I coughed again, felt my skin slowly turning raw, and knew that I couldn't stay much longer if I wanted a chance at life. But I hadn't found Izumi yet. I had to find Izumi. She couldn't be dead, I refused to believe she was dead--

"Mi..ng?"

My heart almost stopped. "Izumi! Izumi, can you hear--" Another bout of coughing. "--can you hear me?! Where are you?!"

"Ming!" That was her voice again, stronger this time. "Are you alright?!"

I found her before I could answer. She was collapsed against a wall, trying to hold herself up and desperately failing. Blood trickled down her chin; there was more on her shirt and the ground. The smoke had triggered her "sickness."

Despite this, Izumi managed to glare at me. "What are you doing?! Get yourself out of here right now! I--" She doubled over, coughing again, and blood splattered against the wood. Unlike before, it no longer had a comedic effect.

Izumi could die here.

"What are you talking about?! _We_ have to get out of here!" I grabbed her arm--it was badly burned--and started tugging her towards the exit, only to look around and realize there practically _was _no exit. I knew this place as well as anyone did, but the smoke was so thick I could barely see a meter in front of me, let alone which way was safe.

**_Oh, god--_**

"You're panicking, idiot," Izumi rasped, even as I dragged her along in a random direction.

I wanted to answer her, _of course I'm panicking! We're stuck in a freaking burning house, we could both die here, why the hell wouldn't I panic?!_ but I didn't want to risk the smoke. I did turn around to glare back at her, though.

She showed me her hands. The palms were burned.

_Why..._

**Alchemy.**

I almost slapped myself, I felt so stupid. I'd been panicking so much I completely forgot about alchemy. That blue light from before must have been Izumi, but she ended up burning her hands by trying to perform a transmutation.

But _what _transmutation? Whatever it was, it had failed, apparently. But maybe I could think of something else... I could transmute water vapor, but there was barely any oxygen left in here that hadn't been consumed by the fire. I doubted there was any hydrogen in the air, either. I could feel myself becoming fainter, and from the paleness underneath Izumi's raw skin, neither of us had much time left--

Then I looked down, and remembered something from my biology class that felt as though it came through time from hundreds of years ago.

_Wood is composed of cellulose. Cellulose is a polysaccharide of sugars. Sugars are composed of carbon, **oxygen, and hydrogen.**_

I almost wanted to laugh. Water from wood? Wasn't that _against_ the laws of alchemy in the first place? But then again, this was coming from a time where chemistry was still a primitive science....

Suddenly, Izumi slumped against me.

"Izumi? ...Izumi! Izumi, answer me!!"

I hurriedly turned her around and felt her pulse. It was faint, and she was breathing, but only just. In my moment of indecision, she'd passed out. I looked around and realized that the flames were growing stronger, the smoke thicker. The fire may have even spread to the nearby houses by now.

_You can't make something from nothing. But then again, when it comes down to it, everything is composed of the same basic elements, right?_

_And I have nothing to lose, so what the heck._

It made me sick, but I took my finger and dipped it in Izumi's blood. There were no other writing materials around me--and being infected was the last of my worries here. I scribbled a hurried transmutation circle, one that took up practically all the liquid plus most of the stain on Izumi's shirt, putting my thoughts down on the wood.

Then I clapped my hands together and slammed them to the ground.

For a terrifying moment, nothing happened. The crackling and roar of the fire seemed amplified around me. _Great. So this is how I'm going to die a second time, huh? Playing heroine? Excellent going, Ming._

It felt like there was even more smoke, stinging my eyes. But then I felt a moistness in the air and realized that it wasn't smoke. Smoke was composed of particles of dust and grit that resulted from the burning of the fire's fuels. Smoke was not supposed to be damp, not by any means. And if I squinted--this was white.

_Water vapor._

Water vapor was rising up all around me. I blinked dumbly, trying to understand this, but my brain was already suffering from the lack of oxygen. My vision, or what was left of it, swam. I could barely keep myself upright. When I looked at my hands, they were blistering and red and raw and looked like one of Sig's roasted pork slabs. Izumi was still slumped against me. I hadn't been able to save her.

I weakly tried to open my mouth and form the words, but I could barely cough. **_I'm sorry._**

The water vapor was still rising up all around me. All of a sudden I could almost feel my skin getting cooler, like I was being given one last relief before I died.

And then.

With a roar so loud it almost exploded my eardrums, water exploded all around me with delicious coolness.

_Wh--Wha--_

In less than a second I was completely drenched and so was Izumi. Blue light made me close my already stinging eyes and water burst all around us, pouring from a thousand invisible geysers, bringing down the fire with the very fuel it was burning on. I could still feel steam against my skin. My brain struggled to form coherent thoughts. _Heat...temperature too high...gas cold...water water water water--_

Without thinking I opened my mouth and water poured in. I choked and sputtered painfully, but it did the trick; I rubbed at my eyes and managed to look at Izumi, my head momentarily clear in a moment of adrenaline. But all thoughts of success disappeared in a flash as soon as I looked at her.

Underneath the charred skin, she was so pale.

So pale...

Not even alchemy, not even the life-giving water gushing all around us, slowly reducing the flames to hissing steam, could save her now.

_No._

I opened my mouth, and miraculously, the words formed. "No." I could barely hear myself over the roar of the water and the flames. Fire and water, battling for dominance in a single building. "_No!_" I was shaking her now, barely feeling the pain that stemmed where her skin touched mine. "You're going to live, Izumi! I won't let you die! I won't--I can't--Izumi, wake up! Izumi! _Izumi!_"

It was miraculous that her heart was still beating at this point. Water flowed all around us; the wood was still be used up in the crackle of fire and blue lightning, even without my hands to continue the circle of the transmutation.

"Circle."

I said it out loud, even through the pain of my smoky lungs and charred throat.

"_Flow._"

It had been forever ago, but could I still do it? Could I? There was no bringing back the dead. I knew this better than anyone else, but Izumi was still alive...and if I didn't take the chance and save her now, I would never be able to do it ever again. Shaking, I lay Izumi on the ground as gently as I could. We were on dirt now--the original foundation of the house, without the wood floor that had been used to save me. Using every last ounce of my strength, I drew a circle with my finger in the moist soil where Izumi lay.

It took shorter than a transmutation circle; I had forgotten that. Up until now I had been sure I'd forgotten everything, but it seemed that muscle memory would do for me what mental memory did not. And after all, hadn't my memory always been up to par? How else could I remember who I still was and who I used to be?

I took a deep breath. The air was filled with steam and smoke, and I almost choked again, but I managed to force it down.

My burns, my lungs, my throat--it was highly unlikely that I would survive this. For a moment I remembered that those people had wanted me alive back then, but perhaps they had changed thier minds--or perhaps they were such egotistical idiots they hadn't dreamed that I would be willing to run into a burning house for an old lady. But then again, I would never have believed it back then either.

But Izumi had to live.

To defeat the homunculi, to help the Elrics--

--and for Sig, and for Mason, and for all the people she'd ever helped, including me.

"Don't you dare die, old hag," I said, the first time I'd ever spoken to her with outright disrespect in the five years I'd lived with her, and slammed my hands on the ground.

_Come on, Hohenheim, you stupid Sage of the East, let me do this right just this once--_

The last thing I remembered was a flash of light that wasn't blue, and a feeling of power completely unlike that of alchemy. A feeling of power that was warm and strong and golden--like a mother, welcoming her child home.

_"You finally returned."_

In my vague, dream-like state borne from smoke and exhaustion, I saw myself smiling. _"Sorry I took so long."_

And then, blackness.

**_Rentanjutsu._**

* * *

**A u t h o r ' s N o t e :**

**An update per day. The authoress feels proud. ****And no, of course Ming is not going to die. The story is not going to end after only ten chapters, the authoress will not allow it!**

**The authoress thanks all her reviewers, and all the people who read but didn't review. She loves you all.**


	14. AUTHOR'S NOTE: apologies rewrite

**IT'S ME! ... Sorry this isn't a chapter...**

**Hi, my faithful readers! I'm sorry for not updating in months...some of you have messaged me about that, and that made me realize that there are still a lot of people waiting for me, even though I've been in a slump for so long. Thanks so much, all of you! I love you to bits and pieces 8D**

**Anyway. The reason for this note is: I recently posted the prologue of a REWRITE for this fic. That's right: I'm starting to rewrite SINHEART. Why? See, over this long period of no updates, my writing style has changed dramatically...so much so that it barely fits with the old SINHEART chapters anymore. And when I look back on what I wrote, I feel like there were so many things I could've done better and so many plotholes I left open...**

**But! I don't want to continues without your opinions. I feel like the more my writing progresses, the more complicated it gets...so I'd like it if you all took a look at the rewrite (what's in it so far) and told me what you thought ;D Thank you!**

**~n a g a s h i . n o . k u r o**


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